Natural History Wanderings

NPR writes about the major contribution Sea Otters make in preserving ecosystems. They specifically talk about how otters have benefited Elkhorn Slough, which is an inland salt marsh near Monterey Bay. NPR reports

Farmland runoff regularly pours into this estuary, loading it with man-made nutrients.”It’s sort of just like throwing … a bunch of fertilizer in here,” says Tinker. “You’re going to get a bunch of algae growing, and that algae grows over top of the eelgrass and chokes it out.”This eelgrass was home to an entire food chain of animals — or it was, until the algae took over. Bugs would normally keep the algae in check, but with no sea otters around, the otters’ favorite food — crabs — ate the bugs. And there are lots and lots of crabs.”Within the marsh banks itself, there are all these holes,” Tinker says. “Those are the crab condos … that’s what I call them.”

That’s where sea otters come in. Under decades of government protection, they’re back, and eating crabs. That means the algae is down, the sea grass is up, and with crab condo vacancies, the muddy marshland banks are still here.

Read full story at More Than Just Cute, Sea Otters Are Superheroes Of The Marsh : NPR.