Sea otters are a keystone species whose welfare is inseparably linked to the health of kelp forest ecosystems. Their recovery demonstrates the ecological power of individual animal welfare.
Sea otter welfare is both an individual welfare story and a striking example of how individual animal welfare connects to ecosystem function. Oil spill welfare crises - thousands of individual otters dying from hypothermia after oil destroys their fur's insulating capacity - reveal both immediate individual suffering and the removal of keystone individuals whose ecological role is disproportionate to their numbers. A sea otter dying of hypothermia after oil exposure experiences a prolonged, distressing death as body temperature drops. The ecological consequence is kelp forest collapse and cascading welfare impacts on hundreds of species. The conservation of individual sea otters is simultaneously ecological conservation and welfare protection.