Sea otters are keystone species in kelp forests. Kelp forests rely on the top-down pressure sea otters exert via predation on ...

Imagine gliding through the chilly, emerald-green waters of the Pacific, sunlight flickering through waving forests of kelp.

Suzi Eszterhas Scientists have long designated the california sea otter a “keystone predator,” meaning what the animal eats has a large impact on its environment. The otters devour ...

After the jaguar, the giant otter is South America’s largest and most capable predator. But unlike the jaguar—and all other otters as well—it lives and hunts in groups of up to nine individuals.

Predators include humans -- otters are one of the subsistence species -- and killer whales. Bald eagles are known to hunt otter pups when other food is scarce. Biologist Jim Bodkin, who studies ...

Sea otters have coexisted with coastal Indigenous peoples for millennia, until the maritime fur trade in the 19th century wiped out their populations in BC and along most of the Pacific coast. The ...