Creature Feature: Sea Otters and Global Warming

What animal is cute, fuzzy, and sausage-shaped? An otter! If you haven't seen these fellas in real life, boy are you missing out! As one of the most playful members of the animal world, watching them will put a smile on your face. Go ahead, search for some otter videos on YouTube (I was going to post one, but there are just too many adorable ones to chose from!). 

One of the cool things about sea otters is that they use tools! If you want to learn more, Buzzfeed's Otter Facts article is pretty interesting. A sea otter's diet includes crabs, mussels, clams, abalone, scallops, octopus, squid, snails, and sea stars. But what I want to talk about is their penchant for sea urchins. 

Spikey, yet satisfying! 

Sea otters live in kelp forests. Kelp is a very efficient absorber (yeah, I know that's not a word) of carbon dioxide. As we all know, carbon dioxide is one of the driving forces behind climate change. Yay- kelp helps offset the human population's suicidal amounts of CO2! But, sea urchins eat through kelp forests like crazy. As much as I love sea urchins, these tiny lawnmowers of the ocean can be incredibly destructive. Now, remember what I said sea otters eat? Sea urchins!

Long story short: 

Humans release Carbon Dioxide released into atmosphere --> Kelp Forests use Carbon Dioxide to photosynthesize --> Sea Urchins eat Kelp --> Sea Otters eat Sea Urchins 

Sea otters not only make the world better by being super cute, they also help combat climate change just by chowing down on sea urchins. Thank you sea otters! And thank you for reading- check back soon for more! 

Oh what the hay- here's a cute otter video!