Ocean of Hope

How Sea Otters Fight Climate Change

sea otters climate change
Sea otter wrapped up in kelp (photo by Monterey Bay Aquarium)

How do Sea Otters Fight Climate Change?

Sea otters fight climate change because they are a keystone species. They eat the sea urchins who graze on kelp. The kelp then flourishes and sequesters (sucks up) carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. So sea otters indirectly fight climate change because without them the kelp would all be eaten by the sea urchins.

Here is one wild sea otter’s perspective on life in the kelp forest:

We sea otters have been called “global warming warriors”, but I do not know how to wield a sword! I have been known to use a big rock to open up my shelled prey though. It’s nice being one of the few animals that can use tools.

Kelp forests are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth. Instead of lush green foliage and lots of rainfall like the rainforest, the kelp forest has lush yellowish-brown seaweed and lots of wave action. Another difference is that rainforests are hot and humid, while kelp prefers colder waters (50 degrees F) but can live in temperatures up to 70 degrees F. It is one of the fastest growing plants on earth, as it can grow up to 2 feet in one day! Bamboo can also grow that fast on land.

I like living in the kelp forest because I am perfectly built to live there. My dense fur coat keeps me warm while I dive and catch my favorite seafood. My favorites include sea urchins, abalone (when I can find it!), and snails.

We sea otters like to wrap ourselves, or our pups in kelp fronds when we sleep. Some sea otters will even wrap a live crab in the kelp while they eat something else!

Go visit a kelp forest today, like at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Look for me and my buddies off the deck of the aquarium and on the virtual cams! And remember that sea otters help fight climate change!

10 Amazing Sea Otter Facts

sea otter facts
Tagged Sea Otter: photo by Cherilyn Chin

Here are 10 Amazing Sea Otter Facts:

1. Sea Otters are one of the few animals that use tools. They mainly use rocks, but have been seen using glass soda bottles and cement blocks.

2. Newborn pups cannot sink or dive.

3. Sea Otters have built in pockets under their arms.

4. A group of Sea Otters resting together is called a raft.

5. Sea Otters are the only marine mammal without a layer of blubber (fat).

6. Sea Otters’ fur has 10x # of hairs per square inch than we have on our entire head. (humans 100,000; otters 1,000,000)

7. Sea Otters’ teeth are strong enough to bite through the spines of a sea urchin, or crunch a clam shell open.

8. Wild adult Sea Otters eat 25% or more of their body weight a day, or more than 12 pounds of seafood. A 150 lb human would need to eat 37 lbs of food a day!

9. Sea Otters’ diets can consist of: crabs, mussels, clams, scallops, abalone, sea urchins, octopus, squid, snails, sea stars, and fat innkeeper worms.

And the last sea otter fact is:

10. Sea Otters’ only marine predators are humans, great white sharks, and killer whales.

Click here for “10 More Amazing Facts About Sea Otters”

Facts compiled from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s book, Sea Otters by Marianne Riedman

For more information on Sea Otters see my previous post on Joy and Toola, Surrogate Sea Otter Moms Extraordinaire
and My Unforgettable Moment with Mae, the Sea Otter Mom at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Also visit:
Sea Otter Awareness Week
Twitter: #seaotterweek
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s
Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program (SORAC)

Friends of the Sea Otter
Seaotters.com
Olive the Oiled Otter Facebook Page

Olive the Oiled Sea Otter

Sea Otter Santa Cruz Oil spill
Olive the Oiled Sea Otter and her new pup: photo by CA Dept of Fish & Game

Olive the Oiled Sea Otter
Sung to the lyrics of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

Olive the oiled sea otter,
	was rescued from Santa Cruz.
She was picked up with care,
	for she had everything to lose.

She was given a bath,
	made of olive oil and soap.
It took a long time,
	before Olive was filled with hope.

She was released from Sunset Beach,
	and she played with the other otters.
She ate to her heart’s content, 
	before visiting other waters.

Then one foggy afternoon,
	Olive gave birth to a pup.
She groomed, licked, and nursed 
	for among oiled otters, this was a first.

Olive is now quite famous
	and her timing couldn’t be much better.
She and her fellow otters,
          are celebrating Sea Otter Awareness Week!

Sea Otter Awareness Week is September 23-29. Visit Sea Otter Week
See hashtags #seaotterweek and #OtterTwitterTakeover on Twitter
For more on Olive the (Formerly) Oiled Sea Otter, check out her Facebook page (search for “Olive” the Oiled Otter)!

Domino the Whale Shark Gets Freed From a Fisherman’s Net!

There I was gulping seawater as usual to filter out my next meal, and cruising along at a modest 3 mph (4.8 kph) when bam! Instantly, I could no longer get anywhere when I flicked my powerful tail. I am used to swimming without stopping, so this was very strange. Then I felt something surrounding me. I frantically opened and closed my mouth, and gasped in panic until I realized that I was stuck in a fisherman’s net! I have seen fellow whale sharks sucking fish out of fishermen’s nets, but I never realized that I could get stuck in them, eek!

Fortunately, there were some human SCUBA divers and free divers around to help me. The bubbles from the SCUBA divers tickled my belly, and the bubbles made the remoras sticking to me go crazy and tickle me even more! My buddy Dot swam by to make sure I was ok, and boy she sure had a lot of remoras on her that day! Remoras are fish that are have a sucker on the top of their head so they can hitchhike on various large animals for free transportation and protection. They also eat my scraps, and they make all-around good companions. Traveling by myself from plankton bloom to plankton bloom can get lonely otherwise!

It was strange to be touched by a human, but it felt reassuring. Little by little the net was pulled back until, voila! I was free! It only took a minute, but it felt like a lifetime. I hope that never happens again, but I do hope some humans are around if I get caught again in a fisherman’s net!

Endangered Animals of Finding Nemo: Sea Turtles

endangered species in Finding Nemo
Marlin, Dory, Crush & Squirt from Finding Nemo

Did you know that 1 out of 6 animals featured in the movie, Finding Nemo, are endangered, including the green sea turtle?

Meet Crush’s brother

My name’s Crash. You may know my older bro Crush, dude, and my little nephew Squirt from Finding Nemo. Can you not see my awesome butt (not boat!) in the picture? Radical dude, I was in the movie too! Crush, Squirt, and I are gnarly green sea turtles, heh heh. We live in the righteous warm seawaters around the world, including off of the bodacious Australia where Finding Nemo took place.

7 species of Finding Nemo sea turtles

There are 7 rad species of sea turtles ocean-wide. It’s totally bogus, but 6 out of 7 species are endangered, duuude! Our righteous little eggs are often taken right out of a dudette’s nest by not so gnarly humans. Some dudettes can’t find any righteous beach to poop their eggs in, and city lights can confuse little dudes trying to use the bodacious moonlight to find the gnarly ocean to surf in for the first time, duuude!

Plastic is bogus, man!

When those little dudes and dudettes get to sea, man they better watch out for toootally bogus plastic. It’s everywhere, man. Don’t eat the plastic little dudes, but sometimes I think it’s food too bro! Plastic bags are totally bogus and look like jellies, dude! Not to mention bogus microplastics that also look like food. Watch out for nets too little dudes and dudettes! It’s totally not righteous, but there are less fishies in the ocean now and more nets to accidentally trap us. Not cool, but at least some righteous humans care! Visit SEEturtles or Sea Turtle Restoration Project to see how you can help, dudes! Thanks for checking out about the endangered Finding Nemo turtles!

Also see The Real Fish of Finding Nemo (the Tank Gang)