They may be cute, but they’re helping to combat climate change the only way they know how.
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00:00Sea otters may be cute and adorable to watch floating around on their backs, but these
00:08water-faring mammals are helping to combat global warming.
00:11And they're doing it by promoting the growth of sea kelp.
00:14And since you're no doubt asking yourself how, here's the assistant manager for the
00:17Sea Otter Research Program at Monterey Bay Aquarium, Jessica Fuji, to explain.
00:22Yeah, so we saw a big increase in urchins in the area, and if they go unchecked, they
00:29can create what's called an urchin barren, which is basically the seafloor will be rocks
00:36and just covered in urchins, and kelp is unable to grow.
00:40But by otters eating those urchins, they're able to keep those numbers in check and allow
00:44the kelp forest to be healthy and flourish.
00:48Sea kelp, like many ocean plants, sequesters carbon from the atmosphere.
00:51So by enjoying an all-they-can-eat buffet of the bottom feeders, the sea otters are
00:55clearing out much-needed underwater landscapes for fields of sea kelp.
00:59An ecosystem already under threat by warming oceans and acidifying waters, and this area
01:04in the Elkhorn Slough Estuary in California is a case study in how effective sea otters
01:08can be.
01:09As the area is now a haven where more than 100 endangered sea otters, many rehabilitated
01:14by the aquarium, are now chowing down on urchins and doing their part to balance an ecosystem
01:19on the verge of collapse.