Oliver the Otter

Hello everyone,

There is a wetlands marsh relatively near my house that I've been to since I was little. I mention this because I went there a few weekends ago with my dad and as we were walking along, looking at the frogs, tadpoles, snapping turtles and birds, I realized something. For the amount I love all those creatures, I don't know that much about them. I possibly did at one time, but other than the basics and the inferred guesses I make, my knowledge is limited. So, I'm going to change that. Though it's none of the animals I mentioned previously, otters (specifically Sea otters) are the focus of today's conversation. 

Doesn't that make you smile? He's just so happy (or he's yawning...)

Sea otters are keystone species--which are species that have great influence in an ecosystem though they aren't necessarily high in number (or, put differently, they only make up a small percentage of the total animal population.) What does this mean? They are important, really important. Why they are important relates to how impressibly interconnected ecosystem are, and things called "feedback loops". So, otters eat sea urchin (among other things). Sea urchins eat kelp. So, if there are enough otters (or too many) sea urchin numbers will be maintained and all is, relatively, good. However, if there aren't enough otters, this leads to an increase in sea urchin populations. More sea urchins means they are eating more kelp. What's bad with that? Kelp (and kelp forests) are extremely productive, provide a home for many creatures (including the fish we eat, crabs, otters themselves and more) and ecosystem services (like filtration of water). Less kelp has large, negative impacts on entire ecosystems. In short, we should love otters because they are cute but also because they, along with others, keeps entire ecosystems in balance. 

Fun fact, otters often wrap themselves up in kelp when they are resting so they don't drift away. In addition, they do 'hold hands' or rather 'hold paws'. 

awwwwwww(:

Status: Threatened 

Sea otters inhabit the coasts of the Pacific Ocean

They eat meat (sea urchins, clams, mussels, fish, and many other different types of animals)

In order to crack open the shells, they place a rock on their stomachs and smash the shells against it until the shells break/open. (Pretty ingenious if you ask me). 

Also, I believe that they eat about 30% of their body weight each day to meet their caloric needs because their metabolism is so fast. 

They average 65 pounds, but some can get up to 90, and are around 3 to 4 feet long. 

They can walk on land but mostly they stay in the water

In the early 1900s, otters populations were decimated for their fur. Their numbers went down to around 1000. However, now that their are protected under law and their numbers have greatly increased.

Oil spills and human habitat destruction (by direct contact and by pollution, over harvesting of fish and other animal species, and kelp forest destruction) are threatening these species. In addition, getting caught in fishing lines or just simply killed (on purpose) by fisherman also threatened them. Fisherman kill otters (though it is illegal) because otters eat fish sometimes, and thus the fisherman believe that if you get rid of the otters, then there will be plenty of fish. However, the reality of it is that if you got rid of the otters, there would be no kelp and thus less habitat for fish to live and to breed (leading to less fish). Another killer of Sea otters are parasites. And, big surprise here, humans are causing this. Tons of waste gets washed into the pacific ocean. In this waste is cat litter (because some people flush their cat litter down the toilet... I'm being serious though, it happens) and in this cat litter is Toxoplasma gondii. And lastly (though there is more, I just don't want to think abut dying otters anymore) fertilizers (which contain products that cause toxic algal blooms. 

Unfortunately, while numbers are not down to where they were in the early 1900s, the future doesn't look to great for this species. (I think the saddest thing is that, the latter part of that statement holds true for most of the animals in the world). 

But as always, there are things to do. Other than just being more environmentally friendly in your lifestyle, you can:

1. Tell people about the problem. (and I'm sure some people think that is silly, but it's the basic step to address the problem. If no one knows about the problem, no one is going to care. And if no one cares, no legislation, no government action will be taken to solve it. 
2. If you live on the coast of the Pacific Ocean (such as Monterey Bay), see if local initiatives are in place. Hands on work to help the otters (such as cleaning up the beaches) is always great.
3. Adopt a sea otter. Yeah it costs about 20 dollars, but, in my personal opinion, it's awesome. I am thinking about adopting some creature (this is a whole list of animals you can 'adopt'. Here's a link: http://www.defenders.org/sea-otter/how-you-can-help
4. Don't ever (and this should probably be number one) by real fur (whether it be for hats, coats etc). If you really want a fur hat, buy a fake one

For more basic facts I've found that the national geographic animals' pages are awesome. 

I hope you enjoyed this nature chat.

Stay tuned for more,
K

Cute, Charismatic, Megafauna

Hello Everyone!

I'm hitting the easy topics right now. First cheetahs, now cute animals. So, being in a cons. bio. (conservation biology) lab means I meet/go to lab meetings with conservation biology graduate students and the lab director (let's call him M). It's funny how, years of schooling and being in the research field alters the opinions of people. We read papers every week and discuss them (from the staple conservation biology papers to new, possibly bad, papers) and a sore topic for most of them is "charismatic megafauna". Maybe 'sore' is the wrong word, but there is definitely some small dislike/annoyance toward how much attention the cuddle pandas (a main example of 'charismatic megafauna'), or cute baby tigers, etc etc. Because, they (and most conservation biologists) don't research and attempt to protect the popular creatures. Yes, most of these cute animals are top priority and yes many people (everyday) are fighting to keep them from going extinct, but it is slightly unfair how the big shots outshine the smaller or just less known species. Our lab (since there aren't many, or any, megafauna to research in my state) focuses on turtles and birds and frogs, which are all really awesome and adorable to me but still. Basically, the point of that rambling session was to say, cute endangered animals get a ton of attention while equally as important (if not sometimes more important) species get less attention. For example, certain species of grass are endangered/threatened. Who cares? In reality, few people. But we should care because plants keep our waters clean, provide us with oxygen, provide buffers from storms, store potentially dangerous naturally occurring chemicals and more. So, pay attention to the little guys too! but for right now I'm going to find really adorable endangered species pictures.

Big cats have always been my love

Seals are so cute. I saw the sweetest seal pup in Washington state last summer and will definitely upload some of this pictures on here soon.

Baby otters! So precious. Oh look at them, so much cuteness.

Hehehe. Oh little Grizzly Bears, you are so funny.

Couldn't forget the panda! He's practically the face of conservation

I hope you enjoyed this nature chat.
Stay tuned for more,
K

Cheetahs

Hi Everyone!

Geez, it has been a while since I've been back to this blog. I guess the last time I was writing was mid-applying to college season, which is going on two years ago. But at least it paid off, I got into my dream college and conduct research in the conservation lab on campus. Other than getting older, not much has changed in my life plan. Conservation biology is still my dream field of work. That being said, I'm determined to write more on this blog and I've decided my first topic (a repeat topic I know) is going to be cheetahs. You know why? Because I love them. And I have since I was 4, when I found out they existed. Yes, I love cheetahs (anyone that knows me at all will tell you 'she's going to work with cheetahs some day') but, in my current opinion, that's important because, with my love for cheetahs came my love for conservation. My favorite animal is going extinct,  so naturally I would be drawn to jobs that's sole mission is to save endangered animals.

Just look at that beautiful creature (who is my computer background at work). Just beautiful.

I actually got to meet a cheetah (an ambassador cheetah) and Laurie Marker, the founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), last may. It was a 'party' for all the really rich donors that give to the CCF, and my mom got us in. I got to pet the cheetah. and stare at the cheetah for a long time. My life was made.

Because I really need a reason to google search cheetahs, here are some of the coolest creatures on the planet.

Look at the fluffy heads. SO FLUFFY. (Yes I did just quote "Despicable Me").

*sighs* who could not love these creatures?

I hope you enjoyed this nature chat.
Stay tuned for more,
K