Considering that the global value of the ecosystem services kelp provides is estimated at around $500 billion annually, these losses are significant. Kelp forests provide food and shelter for marine mammals, fish and invertebrates; they buffer wave energy along the shoreline and sequester carbon. Remove kelp, and the system unravels.
According to Masso, one of the reasons the Tla-o-qui-aht chose to join this project was because sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were returning to the region. “The otter played a big role in establishing our kelp forest,” Masso said. Historically, the Tla-o-qui-aht didn’t hunt the otter because they knew it ate the sea urchin, which fed on the kelp.
But European fur traders did.