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Introducing the sea otter -

The sea otter is a member of the weasel family that can often be found chilling out on its back along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia.

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Furry friend -

Sea otters may be extremely cute, but that did not stop mercenary fur traders from hunting them to near extinction over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries.

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Strong comeback -

At one point, there were as few as 2,000 sea otters left in the world’s oceans. Since then, thankfully, conservation efforts have allowed the species space to rebound.

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Good thing, too -

And it's a good thing, too, because scientists are just beginning to realize the power sea otters have when it comes to helping the ecosystems that surround them thrive.

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Dependent ecosystems -

There are two key ecosystems that would struggle to survive without the presence of sea otters. The first is kelp forests.

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Observing -

In the 1970s, a marine ecologist from the University of California went diving in the Aleutian Islands. He made an important observation about the kelp there.

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Key finding -

He noticed that in areas where there were no sea otters, the kelp forest was little more than an underwater desert. In areas where sea otters abounded, the kelp flourished.

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Verbatim -

In describing his discovery, the scientist said: “Just in my own soul, it was an important thing. I felt like I had learned something that was fairly remarkable.”

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Greedy little things -

The reason that kelp thrives in the presence of sea otters has to do with their insatiable appetite. They have a very high metabolic rate and therefore have to eat constantly.

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Dish of the day -

One of the favorite dishes of the sea otter is sea urchins. They are tasty, easy to catch, and high in energy. When sea otters dwindle, sea urchins flourish.

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The food chain in action -

This in turn impacts kelp, because kelp is a favorite dish of the sea urchins. They chew through its base and allow the rest of the giant seaweed to float away.

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No rest for the wicked -

They even enter a dormant state once all the kelp has been destroyed, waiting until it resprouts so they can slash through the fresh new algae once again.

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Seagrass -

The second ecosystem that benefits from the presence of sea otters is seagrass. In areas where seagrass abounds, sea otters tend to feed on crabs.

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Miracles do happen -

With fewer crabs about, the slugs and snails that they prey on are able to thrive. And this is great for seagrass, because the slugs and snails help it to grow in a rather miraculous way.

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How it works -

Slugs and snails don’t normally eat seagrass. Instead, they scrape away the algae that grows on it, allowing more light to reach the plant and thus helping it grow.

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But what does it all mean? -

You’re probably wondering how this all contributes to the fight against climate change. Sure, sea otters help with biodiversity, but with climate change itself?

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Carbon sequestration -

The answer to this lies in the ability of kelp and seagrass to sequester carbon. Like all plants, as kelp grows it absorbs and stores carbon from the atmosphere.

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Kelp carbon -

In some cases when kelp dies, the plant washes ashore and the carbon is returned to the atmosphere as the kelp decomposes.

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Other times -

In other cases, however, the dead kelp sinks to the ocean floor and stays there, sometimes for thousands of years.

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Carbon sink -

In these cases, the carbon sinks to the ocean floor with the kelp and does not resurface, meaning that it cannot be released back into the atmosphere and damage the climate.

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Added benefit -

Sea kelp also has the added benefit that it grows really fast, meaning that it absorbs more carbon than many other plants in the first place.

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Seagrass carbon -

Seagrass is also great at carbon sequestration. It absorbs the carbon as it grows and traps it in its roots.

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Centuries ahead -

When those roots die, the carbon becomes trapped in the sediments and it can take hundreds of years or more to convert it back into its gaseous form.

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The bottom line -

The power of sea otters to help fight climate change, then, lies in their ability to enable plants that are great at carbon sequestration to thrive.

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Looking good -

Although exactly how much carbon these plants sequester is unknown, even lower estimates are promising.

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Number crunch -

According to the BBC, if only 1% of kelp between the Aleutians and Vancouver Island is stored at the bottom of the oceans, that’s enough to offset the emissions of 100,000 combustion-powered automobiles.

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Downsides -

Despite their climate-saving abilities, the reintroduction of sea otters is not popular with all parties. For example, their huge appetites have implications for fishing opportunities.

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Win-win? -

It might be possible to find a win-win solution, however. For example, it may be possible to use the money generated by sea otter carbon offsets to compensate fisheries that lose out.

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In conclusion -

There are still a few unknowns regarding the future of sea otters and their role in the fight against climate change. What is clear is that these cute ocean-dwellers have great potential.

Sources: (BBC) (National Geographic)

See also: Floating gardens: Bangladesh's answer to climate change

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