Otters are very active feeders. Just because urchins are available, doesn’t mean otters will eat them. And they love sea urchins, which eat kelp. Thank you for your help! Melissa Petruzzello of Encyclopædia Britannica and Kyle Shanebeck of the University of Alberta discuss the relationship between sea otters and the health of giant kelp forests and eelgrass meadows. Sea otters mainly eat sea urchins, crabs, clams, mussels, octopus, other marine invertebrates, and fish. Many of the species they eat, like Dungeness crab, are prized by commercial fishermen. By chowing down on these invertebrates, sea otters keep them from denuding kelp forests. Sea Otters in the Kelp Forest The kelp forest is among the most biologically productive marine habitat known to Earth today. They use the kelp to clean off their fur. These small urchins also readily devour kelp, and if their numbers swell, they begin to thin out kelp forests. However, southern sea otters are picky eaters — they like to eat mostly turban snails and, indeed, they get infected with Toxo by eating these organisms. Photograph: Frans Lanting/Getty Images. 9 years ago. Similarly, the otters play much the same role in estuaries, except here they benefit the seagrass beds where baby fish hide and older ones forage. How do sea otters stay warm in the cold water? Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that they indulge in food that can be found in and around rivers. Sea otters do not eat kelp but they do live in the kelp forests. parasitism . The degree of influence that otters have depends on where the carbon ultimately ends up. The carbon is initially trapped in a one-off mechanism by the kelp in its tissues. In response, bald eagles have had to adjust their foraging tactics and look for prey elsewhere. In general, there are two possibilities. In order to capture food, sea otters dive to the bottom in 5 to 250 feet (1.5 to 75 meters) of water. The damage can sever kelp from its roots and cut the kelp off from ocean sediment nutrients. The sea otter and kelp also have a mutualistic relationship. Sea otters do not eat kelp but they do live in the kelp forests. Sea otters floating in kelp. A feeding dive usually lasts from less than a minute to as long as 5 minutes or more. They help kelp forests to flourish by keeping sea urchin numbers under control. During a dive, the sea otter collects and stores the food in the loose skin flaps of its armpit. The sea otter eats sea urchins which if there is a large population makes the kelp endangered. What do sea urchins like to eat? 11. ouch, that hurts! However, with the decline in sea otter populations, bald eagles have to turn to marine fish. However, these … Sea otters are another predator of urchins in the kelp forests. Sea otters require a lot of food (Costa 1978, Reidman & Estes 1990), and what they eat will always be a function of prey availability and quality (Ostfeld 1982). No forest means no home for the fish. For the study area, the value of sea otters in maintaining carbon-storing kelp forests is anywhere from about $200 million to more than $400 million. Once again it comes down to the otters’ tremendous appetites, this time for crabs. Without sea otters, sea urchins can overpopulate the sea floor and devour the kelp forests that provide cover and food for many other marine animals. audio series. In turn, the kelp forests provide food and cover for many other species of animals, and kelp forests play an important role in capturing carbon and reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In the Monterey Bay, the sea otter lives in kelp forest and estuary habitats. Healthy kelp forests are a very good thing. Sea Lions. They will probably be wrapped in kelp beds. Within these seas, they are usually found in the vicinity of the shore (which is typically rocky). Sea otters are the keystone species of the kelp ecosystem, as well as having a mutualistic relationship with the kelp itself. They use rocks to crack open the shells while they lie flat on the ocean, maybe floating on seaweed or some kelp. Contrary to popular opinion sea otters rarely eat starfish,and any kelp that is consumed apparently passes through the sea otter's system undigested. Sea otters inherit in the shallow coastal areas and prefer the places with kelp. 0 0. Sea otters eat mussels found on the seabed. If sea otters are not present, then urchin populations boom, which leads to overgrazing — killing all the kelp — and creating a wasteland known as an urchin barren. By keeping the urchin population low, it keeps the kelp populations healthy. Within these forests, sea otters prey on sea urchins, which graze heavily on kelp. By eating sea urchins, the sea otter helps in conserving the kelp forests, one of the world’s most productive ecosystems. Otters are meat eaters. Sea otters protect kelp forests off Northern California by eating herbivores such as sea urchins that graze on the kelp. Sea otters can be found close to certain seas near Alaska, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and the country of Russia. They are like underwater forest made out of giant kelp, and sustaining hundreds of different organisms such as; kelp, abalone, crustaceans, urchins, harbor seals, and also sea otters. They use the deep cover as protection from predators. Sea otters do an excellent job of eating large sea urchins over eight centimetres in diameter, but they tend to leave behind smaller urchins. When otters are present, they control Sea urchin populations. Sea Otters eat sea urchins that kill many kelp forest. Southern sea otters live in giant kelp forests along the California coast. The reason for this is because sea otters eat sea urchins and sea urchins eat kelp. Sea lions are another major predator of sea otters. One key problem is that the kelp cannot grow back, since the carpet of urchins effectively acts like a herd of goats in a dusty pen, completely subduing any growth of … Kelp forests are important to today's oceans, and they depend on the organisms … In the kelp forest, it eats sea urchins and other animals that graze on giant kelp. Eric Viet ngo. Otters' big appetites protect kelp forests by eating sea urchins. Sea otters can eat up to 25% of their body weight each day. By maintaining healthy kelp forests, sea otters also indirectly help to reduce levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a prevalent greenhouse gas, as kelp absorbs and sequesters carbon. The kelp helps the sea otters to wrap themselves in when they are resting. 8 Top Predators of Sea Otters that Eat Sea Otter. They wrap the kelp around themselves before falling asleep. A Mammal With Thickest Fur: Sea otters are the mammals with the thickest fur, with an estimated one million hair per square inch. Sea Otters get the parasite from Sea Lions or Seals. 10. Without the sea otters to keep them in check, urchins and other grazing invertebrates can turn flourishing kelp forests into underwater wastelands called urchin barrens. Without the sea otters, in fact, the kelp ecosystem would struggle, probabaly even die. Sea Otters can receive a deadly brain disease. This is the fourth installment of the Botanize! Otters eat up to 30 percent of their body weight each day, and when they prey on lots of shellfish and urchins, kelp forests can regrow and give salmon and rockfish and others a place to stay. ... Bald eagles’ diet was once predominantly sea otter pups and kelp forest fish. Without sea otters, the urchin population booms and destroys the kelp forest habitat. 4. 3. This disease is called Toxoplasma gondii, and it is in the sea now! Once the kelp dies it floats up and provides the sea otter with a source of food. What Do Otters Eat Regularly? 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