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Article: Ocean keepers: California's sea otters are mysteriously dying in record numbers. How could their decline affect other ocean life?(LIFE: ECOSYSTEMS)(Cover Story)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- April 18, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Seated in a small boat, biologist James Estes scans the water in Monterey Bay, off the coast of California. He spots his target: a sea otter frolicking in the middle of a large patch of kelp, a type of seaweed. The otter disappears underwater, then resurfaces and bobs--belly up--in the rolling waves.
The otter reaches its paw into the loose pocketlike skin under its arm, and pulls out a clam and a small rock it had retrieved on its dive. It lays the rock on its chest, then--CRACK!--it skillfully slams the clamshell onto the rock. Estes watches intently as the otter whacks open its meal and starts snacking on the flesh inside the shell.
Why is Estes ...