The future of baleen whales: Recoveries, environmental constraints, and climate change.

Most baleen whales were severely overexploited during the past century, but many populations have received near-complete protection from exploitation for more than a half-century. Some of these populations have made remarkable recoveries and are now approaching pre-exploitation levels of abundance. Contrary to expectations of baleen whales making minor oscillations around equilibrium abundances, several populations that have made the strongest recoveries have experienced major mortality events.

Keystone interdependence: Sea otter responses to a prey surplus following the collapse of a rocky intertidal predator.

The sea star and sea otters () are two predators capable of shaping rocky intertidal and kelp forest community structure and functioning. In 2013, a sea star wasting event decimated populations of along the west coast of North America. The collapse of this species in the rocky intertidal revealed an unexpected relationship between two keystone predators.

Dynamic and context-dependent keystone species effects in kelp forests.

Sea otters are an iconic keystone predator that can maintain kelp forests by preying on grazing invertebrates such as sea urchins. However, the effects of sea otters on kelp forests vary over their geographic range. Here, we analyze two 30-y datasets on kelp forest communities during the reintroduction of sea otters along the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, and around San Nicolas Island, CA.

Tool use increases mechanical foraging success and tooth health in southern sea otters ().

Although tool use may enhance resource utilization, its fitness benefits are difficult to measure. By examining longitudinal data from 196 radio-tagged southern sea otters (), we found that tool-using individuals, particularly females, gained access to larger and/or harder-shelled prey. These mechanical advantages translated to reduced tooth damage during food processing.