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Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity and each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play. The greater the biodiversity of species, the greater chance of survival for all life forms during a change.

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Keystone species maintain the biodiversity of an ecosystem and influence other species in their habitat. Without its keystone species, an entire ecosystem would drastically change.

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Sea otters are a keystone species in the Northern Pacific coastal marine biome. They are keystone predators that feed on sea urchins and shellfish to maintain the balance and keep kelp forests healthy. Providing homes to many other marine species.

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Currently sea otters are an endangered species. Historically, their numbers were between 150,000-300,000 along the Pacific Rim. However, today there are approximately 3,000 sea otters in the Pacific coastal region.

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Sea otters were hunted to near extinction in the 1700s-1800s for their fur. With current protections in place, sea otters are still threatened by humans through fishing gear, boat strikes, oil spills, and pollution.

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Fish, invertebrates, birds, and other mammals are impacted by the presence and absence of sea otters in the coastal marine ecosystem.

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In 1911 the International Fur Treaty stopped the hunting of sea otters, and in 1970 the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act provided additional protection. In 2006 the Sea Otter Fund paid for important scientific research, public education, and law enforcement that benefits sea otters. Their numbers are increasing slowly but will not comeback for hundreds of years.

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image source: https://media.hhmi.org/biointeractive/click/keystone/sea-otter.html

https://howweseetheenvironment.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/save-the-otters/

text source:
https://defenders.org/wildlife/sea-otter