Sea Otters, Not Just Adorable

 I mean, if you don't think sea otters are cute, I do rather question your taste. No offense.

But it turns out they're also vital for the survival of eelgrass meadows. It goes like this:

• Sea otter digs through eelgrass for clams.
• Eelgrass responds to the disturbance by flowering and producing seeds.

Eelgrass, it turn out, only reproduce sexually when disturbed. And without sexual reproduction, the meadows have no chance of adapting to changes in ocean temperature and acidity. I also suspect that otters benefit the grass by aerating (water-ating?) the soil.

So, they're not just cute, but a key part of their environment and weirdly symbiotic with the grass.

But they're still adorable. That fur...