The SeaDoc Society is a program of the Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
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Urchins

When One Endangered Species Eats Another

What do you do when one endangered species eats another?

Sea otters, once extirpated in Washington, are now recovering thanks to several transplantations from Alaska. They eat up to 25% of their body weight a day in abalone, clams, crabs, sea urchins, and other invertebrates. This is a concern, because the northern (pinto) abalone also has declined precipitously in Washington and efforts are underway to bring back this culturally and ecologically important mollusk. Complicating the issue, young abalone might hide under sea urchins for protection and Washington has a sizeable state and tribal commercial urchin harvest.

Sea Otter Research

The SeaDoc Society is improving the health of marine wildlife populations and the ecosystem upon which they depend by funding critical research, providing scientific support, and bringing stakeholders together. Like many SeaDoc Society-funded research projects, a recently completed project on sea otters is providing new information that is being used to better manage living marine resources.

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Why our work matters

Healthy ecosystems support economic prosperity. The Salish Sea provides abundant natural capital that contributes substantially to the financial prosperity of the region. Unhealthy ecosystems cost money because we lose the opportunity to benefit from them. The Salish Sea's deteriorating health threatens our economic well being and quality of life. SeaDoc uses science to find solutions to the problems facing the fish, wildlife and people of the Salish Sea.

How you can help:

Make a donation: Most of SeaDoc's work is supported by private donations from people like you who care about the health of our coastal ecosystems. Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing the science that will give us objective information about designing a healthy ecosystem that benefits both people and wildlife. Click here to learn more about donating to SeaDoc.

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