Sea Otter Declines Blamed on Hungry Killers

摘要

Sea otters spend much of their days playing, drifting with the tide, and filling their bellies with the soft meat of shellfish and sea urchins—a lazy lifestyle that many of us might envy. But ecologists know that sea otters off the Alaskan coast, at least, play a pivotal role in marine ecosystems: By dining on sea urchins, the animals help preserve kelp forests that feed a range of species, from barnacles to bald eagles. Now, however, this "poster child of marine near-shore ecology," as Robert Paine of the University of Washington, Seattle, calls the sea otter, appears to be fighting for its survival.