The Importance Of The Sea Otters

In a documentary film directed by Bill Wisenski, “Threatened: The Controversial Struggle of the Southern Sea Otter,” it reveals some of the reasons why the California sea otter population is declining. In addition, it shows the controversy surrounding the “No Otter Zone”. Furthermore, it ensures why the California sea otter population is important to the marine ecosystem. In the film, sea otter populations are endangered because of the significant impact by some human factors. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, fur traders hunted sea otter population to near extinction. Besides this, threatened events such as shipping and drilling oil across the Pacific and along coastal areas; the California sea otters is vulnerable to oil contamination. As a result,

The lecture explained how the population of sea otters declined, due to the environmental pollution. First, the oil rigs along the Alaskan coat serve as an indication to pollution. This directly refutes the reading passage which states that predation was most likely the reason, since the bodies of the dead sea otters didn't wash on the shores.Secondly, the passage mention that the water samples that were extracted from the sea revealed the presence of chemicals. Again, this contradicts with the lecture which claims that the whales which the otters consume were not available anymore. Which had forced the sea otters to change their diet to include small sea animals. Thirdly, the lecture mentions that the decrease in sea otters population was

Southern sea otter lives in kelp forests (a type of seaweed) along the Pacific coast, mainly off the coast of California. The marine mammals consume on average one-fourth of its weight daily including sea urchins, which are vital to support the kelp forests. By the result of sea otters preying on sea urchins, the consumption of kelp by sea urchins are kept at a constant rate allowing the forest to grow and thrive. This is highly important for biodiversity in the sea that is provided by the kelp forest, which is a key component of the three principles of sustainability. There are three ways that human can do to help prevent the premature extinction of southern sea otters. First, ethical issue that consists of the species being seen as vital

Kelp forests are seen as the ultimate ecological engineer in coastal areas. They exist in marine environments spanning in southern California, Aleutian Islands, and the western north Atlantic. Light, latitude, and water temperature and nutrients all play a role in facilitating the growth of kelp forests all around the world, (Bolton). Kelp specifically dominates the shallow rocky coasts of the world‘s cold water marine habitats. Although they look as a free-growing plant, they are in fact primarily of brown algae. These structures provide food and shelter to a huge mix of biota, including crabs, sea urchins, mollusks, and other marine organisms (Steneck). The fronds, or large leaves of the kelp are the distinctive feature that can represent where a specific kelp may be found. The sizes of these organisms can range from the smallest found near California and Alaska at 5m to giant kelp up to 45m in length found on the west coasts of North and South America (Hamilton).

Kitson Jazynka’s purpose in writing “Saving sea otters is just part of her normal day at work”is to recount that will saving a few sea mammals save the whole species?Otters in Alaska have been dying very fast the last 10 years. They think the bacteria in the water is killing the Otters. Their health can help. The scientist figure out most of the sea mammals health. Anything impacting the otters can also impact and other species in the ocean

Sea otters found in Pacific coast: Sea otters allow kelp forests to thrive. Loss of the above mentioned habitat and nutrients provided by kelp leads to great cascade effects on the marine ecosystem. If there is no presence of sea otters then it turns into abundant sea urchins and no kelp forest to feed the marine habitat. Sea otters have been observed to be more important in areas of open coast than protected bays and estuaries. 4.

The area of research that I have selected is the effects of overfishing in the Sea Otter ecosystem off the coast of California. The effects caused by the fishing pressure on the ecosystem will have different outcomes, depending on the strength and the types of relationships of the organisms present. (4) Red Abalone populations have declined drastically, to the point of the abalone fishery collapse. Several factors have led up to the collapse including Withering Syndrome, where the organism loses the ability to attach itself to rocks, making it more susceptible to predation, or the organism can eventually wither and starve to death. Sea Urchins and Red Abalone are a part of the same ecosystem, and are competitors of each other.(5) Both organisms graze on macroalgae and are a primary food source for Sea Otters. Sea Otters occurred from the North Pacific Rim down to Baja California, Mexico, but now only occur in small isolated patches (9) It is understood that Sea Otter presence can characterize community structure, where they can control and determine the size of Sea Urchin and Red Abalone populations. In the absence of Sea Otters, “Urchin Barrens” are created from the overgrazing of macroalgae by Sea Urchin. In these areas the ecosystem have changed dramatically, due to the overfishing, or in this case the over hunting, of Sea Otters causing a trophic cascade.(7)In some areas, Sea Otters have been reintroduced, in other areas they were never removed, and in others they

Bull kelps have strands about 30 meters long with floats to help keep the algae close to the surface within reach of the sunlight. Because California has a consideration amount of sunlight, the giant kelp can be found along the coastal regions. Because of this, California sea otters gather in the kelp forest and snooze during spring. To prevent themselves from being drift away by tides and currents, they anchor themselves by scraps of kelp around their body. In some aspects, sea otters are guardians of the region. Several creatures that shelter in the kelp have to venture in the opening to feed, like the bat ray. They feed in the sandy floor of the open sea, they use jet of water to blown the sand away and expose invertebrates. They will either eat or be

The presence or absence of sea otters influences marine ecology at the community-level. Studies have shown that kelp forests enhance the underwater environment, providing a suitable habitat for fishes. The declining kelp beds in California in the mid 1900’s propelled the Kelp Habitat Improvement Project, whereby attempts were made to eliminate sea urchins that are primary predators of kelps. Studies showed that the elimination of sea otters during the 1800s from the Californian waters might be responsible for the dwindling numbers of kelp forests. Further studies have also shown that the population density of sea otters affects seaweed biodiversity as well. In a study conducted in Alaska on three different bays, the Torch Bay, Deer Harbor and the Surge Bay, it was found that the presence of sea otters led to a decrease in the population of sea urchins, which led to an increase in the population of seaweeds. In addition, it was also found that annual kelps predominated the areas where sea otters were present, and perennial kelps predominated in areas that had lesser sea otter populations (qtd. in “Interaction with kelps & sea otters”).

Sea Otters as well as many other species are in danger because of Climate Change.The sudden change in climate has disturbed the ocean’s temperature which causes an insufficient amount of food for sea otters which causes the otters to be malnourished and starved. Because of the change in climate there has been a decrease in the amount of harp seals (Foley, 2013) which happens to be the killer whales main prey, because of this the killer whales have now turned to sea otters. Other likely threats to sea otters because of climate change are ocean acidification in the north Pacific, pathogen transport, marine invasive species, biotoxins withdrawn in bivalve prey, and the recurrence and intensity of storm events (Doroff and Burdin, 2015) . Sea otters have a noticeably solid influence on the wealth of kelp through the impact they have on sea urchins, said James A. Estes, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz who was a co-author on Schmitz 's 2014 review and on the original sea otter study. Otters eat urchins. Urchins eat kelp. So in ocean patches where otters are bountiful, urchin populations collapse and kelp tends to thrive (Estes,Cruz and Schmitz,2014). The study, led by Wilmers and published in 2012, found that across the otter 's range the animal could be indirectly at fault for getting rid of as much as 8.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, more than twice what an average

Sexually mature females can mate year around and are often either pregnant or caring for young throughout their lifetime, and this creates ongoing energy demands that can be energetically exhausting (Chinn et al. 2016). Sea otter mating behavior is aggressive and can further inflict physiological and traumatic stress to females, thereby reducing their foraging efficiency. Other factors such as infections, disease, bio-toxin ingestion and anthropogenic disturbance can also decrease fitness among adult females and increase their vulnerability during reproduction (Chinn et al. 2016). As nearshore inhabitants, southern sea otters often live in close proximity to areas of high human population density in California. These nearshore waterways can be busy with recreational and commercial boating activity that can disturb sea otter populations. Increased disturbance may cause increased stress to the species. Sea otters are of great interest to people who wish to view them, and this is sometimes done up-close by boat or paddle craft. If this activity changes sea otter behavior in any way, it not only violates the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it can also have a negative impact on the species, especially adult females with pups. Additionally, a familiar list of human impacts, such as climate change, overharvest of marine resources, municipal runoff, and habitat degradation likely reduce fitness of marine mammals directly and indirectly. Sea otters can be indicators of the overall health of the nearshore ecosystem (Kreuder et al. 2003). The slow growth rate of the southern sea otter population may be an expression of nearshore ecosystem degradation in California resulting from the fur trade and explosion of human population in

I feel that the otter population will recover to a healthy number of individuals, but only if over-fishing ends. If this happens, the population of sea lions and seals will increase. Killer whales won't reduce to eating sea otters and will instead eat sea lions and seals. If the otter population is restored, the kelp forest will also be maintained and that is good news for many organisms. It may take a long time, but I have high hopes that the population of sea otters will become better.

The bald eagle is the most well known endangered species because it is the nation's symbol. It is suppose to stand for freedom and the American way, but if we allow the bald eagle to become extinct how can we let something that doesn't exist anymore stand for freedom and the American way. Being the symbol of the nation, the bald eagle was put on the endangered species list faster than most species. When the bald eagle reached its low point in the 1960's (400 pairs), it was put on the endangered species list. The many federal acts or programs, the "Endangered Species Act" being the most effective, that were created for the bald eagle show how much the government cares about the symbol of our

Sea turtles have been a big help in maintaining the health of the world's ocean for more than 100 million years. They help by keeping up coral reefs all the way to transporting nutrients to beaches. Major changes have occurred in oceans everywhere due to the decline of the sea turtle population. Oceans are unhealthy because of this. It is time for us to protect the sea turtles and rebuild their population to ensure healthy oceans in the future. According to oceana.org, there are seven species of sea turtles that roam the world, six of which inhabit U.S. waters, and have been listed as either endangered, or threatened. Up until now, all six of these species are not at a healthy level despite protection measures from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Some populations even continue to decline. Even at a diminished population, sea turtles play an important role in ecosystems. They are also extremely important to humans because they keep oceans healthy, and we use the ocean as a food source. They keep up the health of the ocean in many different ways, all of which, are very important.

Marine biologist play a key role in understanding climate change and identifying sustainable and profitable ways humans can use the sea and its resources. Marine biologist understand marine organisms needs in their habitats, ultimately helping protect species and reduce human threats. As experts in understanding marine habitats, marine biologist often form essential parts of relief teams. They respond to oil spills and chemical leaks, helping other scientist restore normalcy to local habitats. Sometimes, marine biologists influence other spheres, such as economics and law. They might analyze the effect of sonar on whales and seals, for instance, recommending best practices for reducing harm on those sensitive populations. Marine biologists understand how the ocean supports basic needs, and in turn relay that information to lawmakers, who establish protocols regarding human use of ocean waters and marine organisms. Marine biologist help develop ocean technology too, improving waste elimination, energy sourcing and extraction of key sources. A brief review of components of the marine environment, world food resources, climate control, air and water quality, transportation, and the ecosystem balance are important features that are studied by marine biology. So, understanding why marine biology is important is foundational to integrating a balanced approach toward management of the sea and proper stewardship of organisms,