In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp. Otters Help Restore Balance.

Purple urchins consume the remainder of a small giant kelp. In the background, an urchin barren has cleared the majority of nearby kelp and algae leaving an environment less hospitable for many species. Credit: Michael Langhans

Watching marine life, from otters to wetsuit-clad surfers, frolic in the famously cold water off the coast of Santa Cruz, it’s hard to imagine the devastation that warming water has wreaked just beneath the waves. In central and Northern California, a massive ocean heat wave in 2014 and 2015 set off a cascade of events … Continue reading In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp. Otters Help Restore Balance.