When the sea otters disappear, why does their kelp forest habitat disappear, too? On the Pacific Coast of North America, sea otters play, dive, and hunt for sea urchins, crabs, abalone, and fish in the lush kelp forests beneath the waves.
Back matter includes more information about sea otters and kelp forests, including their importance and current status, the effects of the international fur trade on indigenous peoples, and a list of books and websites for readers who wish to continue to explore..
Asides that dig deeper are woven throughout Matthew Trueman\'s dynamic illustrations, starring a raft of charismatic sea otters.
Susannah Buhrman-deever offers a beautifully written account of a trophic cascade, which happens when the removal of a single element affects an entire habitat.
But when people protected the sea otters with new laws, their numbers began to recover, and so did the kelp forests.
Fish and other animals that depended on the kelp were lost, too.
Without sea otters to eat them, an army of hungry sea urchins grew and destroyed entire kelp forests.
But there was a time when people hunted the otters almost to extinction.
When the sea otters disappear, why does their kelp forest habitat disappear, too? On the Pacific Coast of North America, sea otters play, dive, and hunt for sea urchins, crabs, abalone, and fish in the lush kelp forests beneath the waves
