THE SPECTACULAR RETURN OF SEA OTTERS ALONG THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA HAS LED TO THE REBIRTH OF KELP FORESTS AND OTHER THREATENED HABITATS. THE SECRET? THEIR APPETITE FOR SHELLFISH, SAYS ISABELLE GROC
For the past 30 years, Jane Watson has witnessed one of the most extraordinary underwater transformations. Year after year, on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, she has been diving at the same sites, watching areas known as ‘sea urchin barrens’ transform into beautiful forests of 2m-tall kelp. The difference between the two environments is striking.
Watson is an ecologist at Vancouver Island University with a particular interest in kelp forests. Whenever she explores a sea urchin barren, she finds herself floating in a pink world due to the overwhelming presence of pink coralline algae. Invertebrates such as sea urchins, abalone, chitons and sea cucumbers, which thrive in the open, are all easy to see. “It’s like being on a grassland because it is an exposed environment,” Watson says. In stark contrast, diving among the waving brown kelp is like hiking in a forest teeming with juvenile fish.
Behind this transformation is the voracious appetite of an extraordinarily photogenic creature – the sea otter Enhydra lutris. It occurs in western North America and the far east of Asia, and as its name suggests is entirely marine. (Confusingly, though, it is not the only otter found in coastal waters – the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra also thrives on seashores and sea lochs, for example.)
This story is from the August 2016 edition of BBC Knowledge (Asia Edition).
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 2016 edition of BBC Knowledge (Asia Edition).
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
World's First Malaria Vaccine
The World Health Organization’s director-general hails ‘historic moment’ as mass immunisation of African children begins
Is River Pollution Putting The Species In Jeopardy Again?
Ten years ago, it was jubilantly announced that o ers had returned to every county in England. But is river pollution putting the species in jeopardy again?
The Big Burnout
Long hours, low pay and a lack of appreciation — among other things — can make for a stressful workplace and lead to burnout. It’s something we should all be concerned about, because over half of the workforce reports feeling it
Putting Nature To Rights
More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court
Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?
Buoyed on by its successful Moon missions, China has launched a five-year study to investigate the possibility of building the biggest-ever spacecraft
Are We Getting Happier?
Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery…
“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”
Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US offthe fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision
Your Mysterious Brain
Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what’s between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains…
Why Do We Fall In Love?
Is it companionship, procreation or something more? DR ANNA MACHIN reveals what makes us so willing to become targets for Cupid’s arrow
Detecting the dead
Following personal tragedy, the creator of that most rational of literary figures, Sherlock Holmes, developed an obsession with spiritualism. Fiona Snailham and Anna Maria Barry explore the supernatural interests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
