From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):
Sea otters’ playful disposition makes them some of the most beloved animals on Earth — and with the critical role they play in balancing our ocean ecosystems, these adorable creatures are truly irreplaceable.
It’s been over a century since the sea otters were hunted to near extinction, and it’s high time that we give this threatened species an opportunity to thrive once again.
Go to https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53313 to tell the Fish and Wildlife Service: Reintroduce sea otters off the California and Oregon coast to help bolster the threatened species and restore the health of ocean ecosystems.
Around the time that Americans were declaring our independence, there were an estimated 300,000 sea otters swimming and playing in the Pacific Ocean.1
But in the 1800s, fur traders hunted the otter to near extinction. The otter was thought to be gone from the Pacific Coast of the continental U.S. entirely, but a few managed to evade hunters and settled along the Central California coast. These are the southern sea otters, a species currently listed as threatened. Its population keeps fluctuating at about 3,000, and it occupies a very small fraction of its historic range.2,3
In the otters’ absence, ocean ecosystems have gotten severely out of whack. Otters eat lots of purple sea urchins. Urchins eat sea kelp. In the absence of the otter, urchins have multiplied and they’re mowing down kelp forests unchecked. This in turn hurts the populations of other marine critters that live in, or rely on, sea kelp.
Kelp forests are also critically important for our ability to tackle climate change because they, like many other coastal ecosystems, help keep carbon out of the atmosphere.4
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s own reports suggest that reintroducing sea otters off the California and Oregon coast can play a major role in ensuring the survival of this iconic species.5 Right now, we need environmental advocates like you to stand up and convince the Fish and Wildlife Service that it needs to act sooner rather than later. Add your name today.
- Steve Blackledge, “Let’s bring back the southern sea otter to the Pacific Coast,” Environment America, October 25, 2022.
- Lilian Carswell, “On Second Chances: The Southern Sea Otter’s Return to Ecological Relevance,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, July 22, 2022.
- “Southern Sea Otter,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, last accessed November 4, 2022.
- Lilian Carswell, “On Second Chances: The Southern Sea Otter’s Return to Ecological Relevance,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, July 22, 2022.
- “Sea Otter Feasibility Assessment,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, last accessed November 4, 2022.
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