Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to Protect Endangered Southern Sea Otters

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering stripping Southern sea otters of their Endangered Species Act protections.

Southern sea otters were decimated in the early 1900s by the maritime fur trade. In 1977, the Southern sea otter was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.¹

While the populations have rebounded some since the otters were given federal protections, Southern sea otters still only occupy 13% of their historical range.² Removing their protections would be premature and potentially disastrous.

Add your name at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=52259 to tell the FWS not to erase protections for Southern sea otters.

Southern sea otters once numbered in the hundreds of thousands across the North Pacific Ocean. Today, fewer than 3,000 remain.³

Erasing Endangered Species Act protections for Southern sea otters would not only be disastrous for the species, but also for the environments they live in. Southern sea otters are a keystone species. They help defend kelp patches and promote eventual regrowth.⁴

And yet, last year’s Huntington Beach oil spill was a reminder that threats to otters are ongoing.

The Fish and Wildlife Service should be working to bring sea otters back to Oregon and northern California, where these creatures are missing and coastal ecosystems are out of whack. Instead, it’s entertaining the idea of stripping protections.

To ensure that Southern sea otters are protected against oil spills, habitat loss and other threats, it’s vitally important that they are federally protected.

Take action to save sea otters today.

1. Tyler Hayden, “Feds Consider Delisting Southern Sea Otter as Protected Species,” Santa Barbara Independent, August 24, 2022.
2. Lilian Carswell, “On Second Chances: The Southern Sea Otter’s Return to Ecological Relevance,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, July 28, 2022.
3. Tyler Hayden, “Feds Consider Delisting Southern Sea Otter as Protected Species,” Santa Barbara Independent, August 24, 2022.
4. Lilian Carswell, “On Second Chances: The Southern Sea Otter’s Return to Ecological Relevance,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, July 28, 2022.