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The Southern Sea Otters live along 220 miles of the California coastline. They currently range from Ano Nuevo Point to Point Sal. However, they once lived along the Pacific coast from northern Japan, along Aleutian Islands, down the Alaskan coast, and all the way to Baja California. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries at the high point of the Russian fur trade, the sea otters were hunted so much that they disappeared from the northern Japan coast and the Aleutian Islands.
The Kelp Forest The sea otters rarely travel more than 1.5 miles from the coast. Otters can often be found romping in thick, slimy kelp beds. Kelp grows not far from the coastline and in waters about 20 to 60 feet deep. Like any plant, it needs light for photosynthesis to survive. Kelp is not found in Kelp forests have a variety of characteristics which provide otters protection, support, and a source of invertebrates and fish which live in and around the kelp beds. When an otter senses danger from a shark or other predator, it can take cover deep within the sticky strands of the forest. Otters will wrap themselves with kelp to keep from floating away on the waves when they are sleeping. There is always a convenient meal awaiting the otters because various fish, sea urchins, and shellfish are present .
Working Together Because they feel safe and can find food there, kelp beds become home to many otter families. In turn, the otters help keep the kelp bed alive by eating sea urchins. (An adult male may eat up to 50 urchins per day!) Sea urchins could demolish a kelp forest because they eat the base of young kelp. The otter, the urchin, and the kelp forest work together to provide an ecosystem that many animals depend on.
Taking a Break After a long day of diving and feeding in the cold waters, sometimes the otters need a break. At times otters leave the kelp beds and venture off into the rocks and sandy beaches to sun themselves. This is called “hauling out.�
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