The Otter Project

Point Sur Lighthouse.

Water washing from shore carries the disease that kills our otters together with the chemicals that weaken the otter’s immune system. Healthy watersheds act as natural treatment systems filtering and breaking down harmful pollutants. The storm drain systems of cities can fast-track pollution, bypassing any functional watershed.

The intense agriculture of the Central Coast impacts otters in two ways:

1. nutrient runoff promotes freshwater toxic algal blooms that wash into the ocean and poison otters and
2. pesticide burdens can impact the otter’s immune system.