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About Sea Otters and Kelp

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The sea otter's dark brown fur is the finest and densest of any animal fur. On an adult animal, there are an estimated 650,000 hairs per square inch. A sea otter relies on its fur to keep warm-it doesn't have an insulating layer of blubber as other marine mammals do. Natural oils in a sea otter's fur repel water and trap tiny air bubbles, providing a layer of warm air between the otter's skin and the harsh elements of its environment.

Sea otters may spend as much as 48% of the daylight hours grooming their fur. Sea otters sleep, rest, and usually swim by paddling with their hindflippers on their backs. California sea otters spend almost all of their time in the water, while Alaska sea otters often sleep, groom, and nurse their young on land.

Tool use is an unusual behavioral trait seen only in sea otters and a few other types of animals.
An otter may remove an abalone by repeatedly hitting it with a rock. It also may use a flat rock to break open the shells of crustaceans and mollusks. While holding the rock on its chest, the otter pounds the animal on the rock until it breaks or opens. Sea otters are hungry animals. In a normal day they'll eat one quarter of their body weight by feasting on sea urchins, crabs, clams, mussels and octopuses. To get food, a sea otter may hammer open shellfish with small rocks or dive over 100 metres into the murky ocean depths.

Kelp grows in any sea where it is covered in cool, sunlit water and fed with nutrients brought in by the waves.

It grows so large and so densely, that it can form underwater forests.

These kelp forests make suitable habitats for a host of sea animals, including the sea slug and the sea otter..

Popular links
Saving Sea Otters - Where Sea Otters Live - KELP FORESTS

Special thanks Mike and Seaworld
Please visit mike Baird's photostream
Some info courtesy Seaworld educational outreach program
A Raft of Sea Otters

La nutria marina (Enhydra lutris) es una especie de mamífero carnívoro de la familia de los mustélidos; es la única especie existente del género Enhydra. Habita en el Pacífico Norte, desde el norte de Japón hasta Baja California en México.

Sea otters keep kelp forests healthy

Believe it or not, there is a kind of seaweed in the seas off California that grows to 50 metres in length!
It is the giant kelp. Other kinds of kelp do not grow quite so big but can still reach three or four metres in length.

Sea otters keep kelp forests healthy by eating animals that graze on kelp.

A Raft of Sea Otters

Sea Otter preening itself in Morro Bay

by mikebaird

A Raft of Sea Otters

by: Vicki Leon

Amazon Price: $0.01 (as of 02/13/2012)

This lively book tells young readers everything they want to know about the life and behavior of the southern sea otter, its northern cousin, and lesser-known river otters. Forty color photographs by 13 exceptional wildlife photographers show the otter at work and play, while range maps show both current and historic locations of the otters.

Gourmet otter

When it dives in the shallows of the sea looking for food, the sea otter likes to find just the right meal. This usually includes abalones and other shellfish that humans often enjoy as delicacies. These shellfish are found in great numbers among the kelp forests. Unfortunately, the sea otter's tastes have not made it popular with fishermen who are part of an industry worth millions of dollars a year.

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Alan Vernon.

I Love Sea Otters by tshirtshirts
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A Raft of Sea Otters

This lively book tells young readers everything they want to know about the life and behavior of the southern sea otter, its northern cousin

A Raft of Sea Otters [Paperback]

Little Wave Eater: An Orphaned Sea Otter

Lootas, Little Wave Eater tells the story of a four-week-old orphaned sea otter that was adopted by the Seattle Aquarium

Lootas, Little Wave Eater: An Orphaned Sea Otter's Story [Paperback]

Enhydra lutris

by mikebaird

A picture-book portrait of an ecosystem and what happens when it's forced out of balance by human intervention. The story focuses on a kelp bed in an inlet and the various creatures that live there, including a group of sea otters.

One day, hunters arrive and decimate the otter population, killing most of them and causing the rest to flee. Without the otters to keep them in check, the sea urchins (the otters' favorite food) multiply and ultimately destroy the kelp beds to the extent that other creatures can no longer survive there.

Finally, nothing is left-until a new group of otters arrives and begins eating the sea urchins. Slowly, but surely, the inlet's balance is restored to its former state. The emphasis here is on the nature of the cycle rather than on the drama.

Sea Otter Inlet

by: Celia Godkin

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 02/13/2012)

The charmingly drawn otters pull readers in, but the other residents of the kelp bed have their own appeal as well, and make each page a visual delight." -- School Library Journal,

Otter-free zones - Bad idea

In order to make their money, the Californian fishermen wanted otter-free zones, so they alone could catch the shellfish in the kelp forests.
They also wanted to stop the people known as conservationists from moving otters into new areas to save them from oil spills.
Bad idea
This was not just a bad idea for the otters, but for the fishermen, too. Kelp needs sea otters. If otters were allowed to spread, fishermen would gain because kelp forests provide a home for valuable fish and shellfish.

Save The Sea Otters by koncepts
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Franko's La Jolla Shores Map & Kelp Forest Creatures Identification Guide

by mikebaird

Franko's La Jolla Shores Map & Kelp Forest Creatures Identification Guide

by: Frank Nielsen

Amazon Price: $5.95 (as of 02/13/2012)

Near extinction

In the early 1990s, there were only about 1,500 California sea otters. Nearly all of them had been wiped out in the 1800s. They were the victims of fur hunters. Kelp forests began to disappear as well. Since the 1930s, sea otters have been protected and their numbers have begun to grow
The loss of the kelp forests was probably caused by sea urchins. Sea otters like to eat sea urchins, while sea urchins like to eat kelp. If there are no otters, the sea urchins grow in numbers and eat all the kelp. This in turn destroys the habitat of th shellfish, so the fishermen suffer, too.

Protected Sea Otters

Since the 1930s, the California sea otter has been protected. Its numbers have grown and so the kelp forests have also recovered.

Sea Otter with Offspring Photographic Print

Stone, Lynn M.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Valuable Kelp Forest

by moonjazz

Kelp forest

Kelp forests are valued for recreational activities such as SCUBA diving and kayaking;

Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth.Mann, K.H. 1973. Seaweeds: their productivity and strategy for growth. Science 182: 975-981. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds.

Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans. In 2007, kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador.Graham, M.H., B.Phi. Kinlan, L.D. Druehl, L.E. Garske, and S. Banks. 2007. Deep-water kelp refugia as potential hotspots of tropical marine diversity and productivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 16576-16580.

Physically formed by brown macroalgae of the order Laminariales, kelp forests provide a unique three-dimensional habitat for marine organisms and are a source for understanding many ecological processes. Over the last century, they have been the focus of extensive research, particularly in trophic ecology, and continue to provoke important ideas that are relevant beyond this unique ecosystem. For example, kelp forests can influence coastal oceanographic patternsJackson, G.A. and C.D. Winant. 1983. Effect of a kelp forest on coastal currents. Continental Shelf Report 2: 75-80. and provide many ecosystem services.Steneck, R.S., M.H. Graham, B.J. Bourque, D. Corbett, J.M. Erlandson, J.A. Estes and M.J. Tegner. 2002. Kelp forest ecosystems: biodiversity, stability, resilience and future. Environmental Conservation 29: 436-459.

However, the influence of humans has often contributed to kelp forest degradation. Of particular concern are the effects of overfishing nearshore ecosystems, which can release herbivores from their normal population regulation and result in the over-grazing of kelp and other algae.Sala, E., C.F. Bourdouresque and M. Harmelin-Vivien. 1998. Fishing, trophic cascades, and the structure of algal assemblages: evaluation of an old but untested paradigm. Oikos 82: 425-439. This can rapidly result in transitions to barren landscapes where relatively few species persist.Dayton, P.K. 1985a. Ecology of kelp communities. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 16: 215-245. The implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) is one management strategy useful for addressing such issues since it may limit the impacts of fishing and buffer the ecosystem from additive effects of other environmental stressors.

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Older sea otters sometimes get silvery heads as their guard hairs change colour. Along with its long, stiff whiskers it's no wonder the otter has earned the nickname "Old Man of the Sea."

Lootas is Highly Acclaimed by Smithsonian Magazine

Lootas, Little Wave Eater: An Orphaned Sea Otter's Story

by: Clare Hodgson Meeker

Amazon Price: $5.20 (as of 02/13/2012)

Review
"An exciting an educational look at the life of a baby otter...An engaging true-life account with wonderful photographs of Lootas make this an exciting read for ages 6-10. A portion of the proceeds benefit Lootas and The Seattle Aquarium's sea otter breeding programs." -- Northwest Family Magazine

Save the Sea Otters

800px-Sea_otters_holding_hands, Save the Sea Ot... shirt

800px-Sea_otters_holding_hands, Save the Sea Ot... by SLDorr
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cc licensed flickr photo shared by mikebaird

cc licensed flickr photo shared by mikebaird

About Sea Otters and Kelp

Sea otters keep kelp forests healthy

A Raft of Sea Otters

Sea Otter preening itself in Morro Bay

Gourmet otter

A Raft of Sea Otters

This lively book tells young readers everything they want to know about the life and behavior of the southern sea otter, its northern cousin

Little Wave Eater: An Orphaned Sea Otter

Lootas, Little Wave Eater tells the story of a four-week-old orphaned sea otter that was adopted by the Seattle Aquarium

Enhydra lutris

Otter-free zones - Bad idea

Franko's La Jolla Shores Map & Kelp Forest Creatures Identification Guide

Near extinction

Protected Sea Otters

Valuable Kelp Forest

Kelp forest

Lootas is Highly Acclaimed by Smithsonian Magazine

Save the Sea Otters

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Aurora Plush Cali Otter Flopsie - 12"

River otter

Enhydra lutris

Giant Kelp Forest

Otter on his Own: The Story of the Sea Otter

Good Night, Little Sea Otter

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