After being nearly wiped out a century ago, the sea otter population in Canada is booming. But not everyone is glad to welcome them back
IT'S shortly after dawn on Canada's west coast. We're standing on a rocky islet, and below us are the animals we have come to watch: about 15 sea otters are grooming, snacking and snoozing in the ocean. Then four fishing skiffs zoom by and the otters scatter.
I'm here with marine ecologist Erin Rechsteiner, who has been watching sea otters at this particular spot since they first arrived in autumn 2013. The raft of males, numbering up to 130 animals in winter and spring, is a sea otter vanguard.
"We're right on the edge of their range, for the moment," Rechsteiner says. When the males turned up, they feasted on sea urchins. "We're watching them shift to different foods now that they've been here for ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.
