The sea otter is one of the most aggressive biologists in the world. To keep themselves warm and healthy, they consume one-fourth of their body weight each day, diving to the bottom of the ocean in droves to retrieve urine, crabs, and shellfishbivalves like crabs. Fujii states: “By eating as much as they can to survive in the environment, they are destroying the environment, and they are having a more positive attitude. (An application in northern California has attempted to re-introduce another type of “gave you urchin”—That swimmers.)
Proper storage of urchin protects the kelp, which is essential for the environment in two important ways. First of all, the forest is home to fish, which are a source of food for birds and other aquatic animals, such as sea lions. Second, seaweed is part of what scientists call “carbon carbon”Ecosystem, means the area on the coast or in the oceans that carry carbon dioxide. (Other sections include madambo and mangrove trees.)
But it is a mistake to calculate the exact amount of oxygen that a healthy kelp forest can grow. The redwood tree, for example, grows large for hundreds of years, blocking excess air for a long time. (Unless it catches fire, when carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere.) Things fluctuate in water. All sorts of opponents, including sea urchins, are swaying on the kelp – and exhaling. In addition, the raging sea breaks up forest fragments, which fall into the sea and rot, releasing stored air. As a result the kelp forest is constantly decaying and growing, chasing and releasing carbon all the time.
It is difficult to determine just how long the carbon will last. “The future of the entire kelp is uncertain,” says Wilmers. “Imagine all the things that are about to sink into the ocean and never return for 1,000 years. This is a far greater benefit of removing carbon dioxide than just slowly descending and decomposing and returning to the atmosphere.”
In the face of this uncertainty, Wilmers has taken some action to compare about the potential health benefits of a healthy carbon otter north of the Pacific Ocean, between the Canadian border and the peak of the Aleutian Islands. If the kelp forest grows well, and half of the carbon that it feeds into the deep sea, it would be equivalent to blocking the emissions of 5 million vehicles. Even if only 1 percent of the carbon remains in the deep, it would be equivalent to emissions from 100,000 cars.
In Monterey Bay, otters do not protect the kelp alone. They also visit Elkhorn Slough, a large swamp, where they promote the growth of eelgrass, another coastal plant that absorbs carbon dioxide – although otters damage the plant. indirect path. The birds feed on crabs, which in turn feed on the invertebrates of the sea, which feed on algae that grow on grass. Reducing the amount of crabs that feed on slugs helps eelgrass because when slugs remove algae, they keep the plants clean, which helps them to eat more of the sun. Due to the return of otters, the amount of eelgrass in Elkhorn Slough is high jumped 600 percent in the last thirty years.