Bald eagles scan for food from treetop perches while migrating whales feed in the myriad bays. A large subspecies of black bear feeds on the intertidal life. Sea stars, anemones, and nudibranchs live in tide pools caressed by the surging Pacific. But even here all is not well. Sea otters are gone due to being overhunted for the fur trade, causing a cascade of negative ecological effects through the marine ecosystem.
Sea otters eat sea urchins and sea urchins eat kelp.
Near the shore, the unusual kelp plant anchors itself to the ocean floor, creating underwater forests which in turn provide habitat for a variety of other species. With the sea otters gone, kelp beds are scarce and other species dwindle. The great hardwood forests of eastern North America are home to a glorious array of songbirds whose color and music can move even the hardest heart. But these messengers of spring are declining due to habitat fragmentation and a surge in the numbers of small predators that thrive in fragmented landscapes. Brown-headed cowbirds and raccoons are diminishing the native birds of the great green canopy of eastern North America.