In Elkhorn Slough, an inlet on the California coast, seagrass grows healthy and strong in the shallow water, providing homes for fish, preventing erosion, and trapping carbon from the environment.
This healthy seagrass baffled marine biologist Brent Hughes. Water in the slough is chock-full of nutrients from fertilizer runoff on nearby farms. Normally, nutrient-polluted water supports huge population of algae that block sunlight from reaching the seagrass, and the seagrass dies. Why has the slough's seagrass thriving?
As Brent investigated, signs pointed to an unexpected player helping to keep the seagrass healthy: sea otters! What do these top predators have to do with an aquatic grass at the opposite end of the food chain?
Brent's amazing discovery solved a modern science mystery - and gave scientists insight into the delicate balance of ecosystems.
