California sea otters can keep swimming toward a full recovery. Last fall, the Supreme Court declined to review a decision that boosts the otters\u2019 chances of expanding their population.<\/p>\n
Fishing industry groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in hopes of reviving an ill-advised program known as the \u201cNo Otter Zone,\u201d which was supposed to exclude the already threatened otters from parts of their historic range along the California coast.<\/p>\n
Earthjustice intervened<\/a> in the case on behalf of the marine mammals, and three federal courts confirmed the government\u2019s decision to end the No Otter Zone. When opponents of otter protection asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the lower court decision, Earthjustice opposed the request. The Supreme Court\u2019s decision marks the end of years of litigation.<\/p>\n Earlier in 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals emphasized that the illogical nature of the industry groups\u2019 reading of the law \u201cwould turn a statute aimed at preservation of the otter population into one that impedes that goal where the experimental population does not thrive\u201d and that requiring the service to harm the very species it meant to protect \u201cwould make no sense whatsoever.\u201d <\/p>\n “This decision marks an important milestone that promotes the otter\u2019s well-being and hopefully puts an end to further, misguided attempts to revive the failed No Otter Zone program,” says Earthjustice attorney Andrea Treece. <\/p>\n Sea otters are a\u00a0keystone species<\/a>\u2014the lynchpin of ecosystems. When otters feed on shellfish, particularly sea urchins, they control the population of these species. Otherwise, urchins could consume all of the giant seaweed, or kelp, in the otter\u2019s coastal habitat. Besides protecting coastal areas from storm surges, kelp is also beneficial as a major source of food and shelter for other organisms. Certain crabs and abalone depend on kelp for food, while many types of fish use kelp forests to hide from predators.\u00a0Sea lions and seals<\/a>\u00a0feed on the fish that live in the kelp forests, and grey whales have even been observed in these kelp safe havens, most likely hiding from predatory killer whales. Without sea otters to keep sea urchin numbers in check, the entire ecosystem could collapse.<\/p>\n As well as being the glue that holds coastal ecosystems together, otters also help mitigate the effects of climate change. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased by 40 percent<\/a> since the start of the industrial revolution, causing global temperatures to increase. Removing CO2 from the atmosphere can help reduce the rate of this global warming. The kelp forests otters protect are carbon-sequestering powerhouses; the kelp plants absorb large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. According to a 2012 study<\/a>, healthy, otter-protected kelp forests can absorb up to 12 times more CO2 than unprotected kelp.<\/p>\n