California's coast is home to an underwater forest made up of giant kelp. This type of seaweed grows at a rate of one foot per day and can reach 100 feet in height. The seaweed absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the same way that a terrestrial forest does. It also absorbs carbon from the water. This is an important part of climate mitigation. Chris Wilmers, an ecologist at the University of California Santa Cruz, said that kelp can absorb a lot of carbon. Kelp forests are generally more productive than terrestrial forests because they burn carbon faster.
However, California's kelp forests have been continuously mowed by purple urchins since the 18th century. This is due to the slaughter of their natural predator, the sea otterhunted because of its unique fur. Sea otters don't rely on blubber to insulate, unlike other marine mammals. Instead, they rely on densely packed hairs. They have one million per square inch at their thickest. California's otter population has plummeted from 20,000 to 50 over the past few centuries.
The native urchin population will plummet if there are no otters keeping an eye on the kelp. These spiky invertebrates change their foraging strategies. Instead of hiding in rock crevices waiting for the detritus, they now venture out to eat. The area can become a urchin barren if the otters don't exist. Jess Fujii is the Monterey Bay Aquarium's sea otter program manager. You won't find anything other than rocks and hard substrate that are covered with urchins. California has also lost 95 percent its kelp forests.
The aquarium has been working since 2002 to rescue otters and offer the most adorable adoption program in the country. The moms of sea otter pups are kept in captivity and take them in. Great white sharks, who prefer blubber over fur, also visit the aquarium to rescue orphaned pups. The moms show the pups how to care for sea otter babies, such as how to clean themselves and how to float on their backs. They also teach them how to use rocks to break open sea urchins. Fujii says that we aren't hand-feeding the animals or imprinting their habits on them. They're learning how to be a otter from an animal. These animals are often only one day old. They have no idea of where their home is.
Fujiis team releases the adopted children into the California coastal habitats once they are ready. Each adoptee is tagged and closely monitored for the first two week to ensure they are getting along well. Tagging is used to help scientists count the otter population. If they are not found, they are brought back in and sent to otter school. The team discovered that 37 of the adopted otters released from 2002 to 2016 have fared just as well as wild otters. Reintroduced otters reproduce and produce more otters. The California coast's sea otter population has increased to 3,000 thanks to this unique program.
