This little Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris, was photographed in Northern California in December of 2018. Sea Otters remain listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Sea Otters are extremely important in the kelp forest ecosytem as a keystone species. Otters eat the sea urchins that would quickly gobble up all of the kelp if they were not kept in check by the otters. These beautiful animals were once hunted to near extinction for their extremely thick fur. Numbers are currently in slight decline.