Joonya Lopez steers his quiet, 22-foot electric boat carefully around the boat docks, coming up parallel to a group of a hundred or so harbor seals basking in rays of sunlight peeking through an overcast sky.
The bank is teeming with wildlife, from pelicans and cormorants to gulls and other seabirds. It鈥檚 a serene morning at Elkhorn Slough, one of the largest wetlands in the state of California. It鈥檚 20 miles north of Monterey in the town of Moss Landing, population 204.
Gena Bentall raises her binoculars to get a closer look at kayakers near a group of sea otters resting in the water. She likes what she sees.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing exactly what they鈥檙e supposed to be doing: staying parallel, about 20 meters away from the otters so as not to disturb them,鈥� she says.
Southern sea otters are a protected species under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, instrumental laws that protect imperiled species from disturbance and harm. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) works with partners to recover the southern sea otter and educate the public about their important role in our coastal ecosystems.
The return of southern sea otters to parts of the central California coast like Elkhorn Slough has meant a boost in visitors 鈥� a boost to the tiny town鈥檚 local economy, too.
鈥淢oss Landing is the best-kept secret in Monterey County,鈥� says Michele Alcantara, president of the Moss Landing Chamber of Commerce. 鈥淭he southern sea otter thrives here, and Elkhorn Slough is one of the best places to witness them.鈥�
Bentall, a resident of the Monterey Bay area for 15 years, attests that the ecotourism industry in this small town is growing. 鈥淧eople really want to get out on the water and experience these wild places,鈥� she says.
But this increase in visitation concerns Bentall and other researchers who study sea otters and other wildlife in the slough. Too many visitors can have unintended consequences.
鈥楳ake things better鈥�
Sea otters are undeniably charismatic. They have unique behaviors while feeding and grooming, and can be seen from shore or by boat. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e an important draw for people to come and see these places and bring vitality into these communities,鈥� Bentall says. But sometimes, Bentall says, people just get too close.
In 2015, Bentall, with financial support from the Service, founded an educational initiative called . A nonprofit, it offers an organized and long-term approach to address human-caused disturbance to sea otters.
She did it, Bentall says, 鈥渢o make things better.鈥�
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e come to realize is that most people that are out on the water who are causing a disturbance to sea otters and other wildlife really aren鈥檛 doing it intentionally,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople might want to take a picture or a selfie, and they don鈥檛 know their approach is actually causing that animal to change its behavior.鈥�
Bentall wanted to give helpful tips to boaters, kayakers, and other water-lovers about the best ways to observe sea otters and other wildlife without unknowingly causing serious harm to the animals.
She鈥檚 not going it alone. The success of Sea Otter Savvy is built on communication and collaboration 鈥� not just with businesses, but with other sea otter experts, agencies, organizations, and private citizens.
Sea Otter Savvy鈥檚 advisory panel includes staff from the Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Monterey Bay Aquarium. Much of the organization鈥檚 daily work is accomplished by volunteers. Bentall has trained some to collect data on sea otter behavior and disturbance; others she鈥檚 recruited to lead classroom programs.
Just like people, sea otters need copious amounts of rest to build energy to find food and raise their young. Unlike other marine mammals, they do not have a blubber layer as insulation against the cold. Instead, sea otters rely on their fur and burning calories to keep warm. They must eat large amounts of food to keep up their calorie count.
If people get too close while a sea otter is catching a much-needed nap, the otter will dive or swim away, burning up those much-needed calories to stay warm, forage 鈥� or, if it鈥檚 a mother, look after her pup. If that happens repeatedly, the otter will have a very tough time surviving.
鈥淚t may not seem like a big deal鈥� one time, one picture, right?鈥� Bentall says. 鈥淏ut if it鈥檚 happening throughout the day, five, 10, 20 times day, it can really add up to an impact for those animals.鈥�
Global visitors
Sea otters are also formidable predators. They鈥檙e related to the wolverine, so it鈥檚 no surprise that they have a very powerful bite that helps them crack open crabs and other invertebrates that they collect from the slough bottoms. Like any wild animal, they can be dangerous if people get too close.
Boat operators like Whisper Charters, owned and operated by Lopez, are paving the way for eco-friendly tourism. His customers can enjoy the animals and scenery in a safe, natural and minimally invasive way.
鈥淧eople are out here to enjoy and experience nature in its natural state, and watch sea otter behavior uninterrupted by our presence,鈥� Bentall says. 鈥淏y staying back, staying quiet, being observant and alert to what鈥榮 going on around you, you鈥檒l have the most natural experience and will also avoid doing any harm.鈥�
People from across the globe make the trek to the central California coast to explore the slough and see the sea otters, sometimes as a stopover point en route between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
鈥淭hey come all year-round,鈥� Lopez says as he admires a cormorant feed its chick atop one of the docks. Whisper Charters has taken visitors on more than 200 trips since last winter.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just good for business, it鈥檚 good for the community,鈥� Lopez says. 鈥淧eople not only enjoy coming on the boat, but they also learn to respect the slough. We need the animals, we need the trees.
鈥淲ithout the animals, we probably wouldn鈥檛 be here.鈥�
Recovering slowly
It wasn鈥檛 all that long ago that sea otters weren鈥檛 there. They were teetering on the edge of extinction after being nearly wiped out by the maritime fur trade that began in the 1700s and lasted nearly two centuries. In the early 1800s, up to 2,000 sea otters from San Francisco Bay and nearby waters were killed per year for their fur; many thousands more were taken from other areas of California.
One remnant population numbering just a few dozen animals managed to survive off the rocky coast of Big Sur. These animals were likely saved by an accident of geography: the rugged coastline simply offered no safe anchorage for the fur hunters.
The creature once was a common sight as far north as Washington, says Lilian Carswell, the Service鈥檚 southern sea otter recovery and marine conservation coordinator. She鈥檚 studied southern sea otters since 2002.
鈥淭oday, they occupy only about 13 percent of their historic habitat,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are miles and miles of coastline habitat that are missing a really important keystone predator.鈥�
From a few dozen sea otters 100 years ago to today鈥檚 population estimate of around 3,000 sea otters are slowly swimming toward recovery, but they still have a long way to go.
Their population is just about at peak capacity in the central part of the range. And, at the northern and southern ends of that range, they are being picked off by hungry or curious great white sharks. These areas of high shark-caused mortality present a barrier that sea otters have a hard time getting past.
鈥淩ange expansion is essential for the recovery of southern sea otters,鈥� Carswell says, 鈥渁nd expansion into historical parts of their range is critical to the health of our coastal ecosystems.鈥�
鈥楲ong way to go鈥�
Sea otters are crucial in the natural food web, too. For example, their diet of sea urchins reduces the number of spiny creatures eating environmentally important kelp forests. In the slough, otters perform much the same function for seagrass beds. They eat crabs, which lessens the pressure on sea slugs 鈥� a crab delicacy 鈥� freeing the slugs to eat algae from sea grasses. That, in turn, allows sunlight to reach the grass blades.
Because sea otters live and feed along the coastline, their health can help scientists detect the presence of pollutants and potential disease-causing pathogens washing down the coastline, Carswell notes.
Programs like Sea Otter Savvy and eco-friendly operators like Whisper Charters help ensure that sea otters can thrive, even in the presence of large numbers of visitors who come to enjoy the otters and the coastal waters that are their home.
鈥淭hrough our connection to Sea Otter Savvy, we are enabling businesses to prosper while ensuring that sea otters stay safe and enhancing opportunities for wildlife watchers, photographers, and marine recreationists to observe wildlife behaving naturally,鈥� Carswell says.
Bentall agrees. 鈥淔olks like Joonya really embrace the wildlife in their community; they are ambassadors for the area,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey know the importance of the health of the ecosystem and the health of the species, because it鈥檚 a big part of their industry to have people come out to see places like Elkhorn Slough in a natural state.鈥�
Sea otter conservation starts with its nearest neighbors, Carswell says.
鈥淪ea otters have come a long way back from the brink of extinction in the 20th century, but they still have a long way to go.鈥� she says. 鈥淏y understanding their needs and behaviors as wild animals and respecting their space, the community of Moss Landing and the visitors who come here are contributing to their long-term recovery.鈥�
Lopez agrees. 鈥淭his is their home, we鈥檙e visiting their home as guests. We have to remember that.鈥�
