For the past 10 years I have been working off the northwest coast of Vancouver Island studying the growing sea otter population. Sea otters were hunted to extinction in Canada by the mid 1800s. Sea otters were reintroduced to British Columbia from 1969 - 1972. Sea otters feed on invertebrates. By feeding on sea urchins, sea otters play an important role in nearshore ecology.
Sea urchins are grazers and eat seaweed.
In British Columbia sea otters regulate the abundance of sea urchins, thus areas with sea otters are characterized by abundant algae and few urchins, whereas areas without sea otters are characterized by little algae and lots of sea urchins. The resulting increase in seaweed leads to increased nearshore productivity, increased habitat for fish and affects the recruitment patterns of invertebrates. These are the interactions that I study. Each summer I conduct two to three months field work out on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Students accompany me as field assistants and participate in monitoring of sea otter population growth and behaviour.