A colleague of mine sent this link to me recently. It's about the alarming population declines of California Sea Otters.

Sea otters have already been impacted by a vicious change in the food chain here in our western coastal waters: Overfishing, algae-blooms, O2 dead zones have severely depleted our marine species of fish; this, in turn, has impacted seal and sea lion populations; this has led killer whale populations to seek a dietary alternative - sea otters, small and easy targets. The food web crash does not end there. Sea otters' favorite meal (aside from clams, mussels, and abalone!) is sea urchins. Well... the sea urchins are now out of control, and since these herbivorous echinoderms love grazing on the hold-fasts of kelp, now the kelp forests that blanket the waters offshore are in severe decline. It should be known that some of these kelp beds possess a diversity of life comparable to that of a rainforest! So, without them, there goes the whole California offshore neighborhood!

Here's the link. What's Killing the Sea Otters? - KQED QUEST Television Story

Please pass it along. Thanks.

Steven Krause