BEING OF OUR COMMUNITIES. >> THE FUNDS COME FROM THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW. >>> THE HEALTH OF THE OCEAN OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST IS IN BIG TROUBLE. BIOLOGISTS HAVE SEEN A MASSIVE DIE OFF OF KELP FORESTS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL TO A HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM. AS JOHN RAMOS REPORTS, SCIENTISTS THINK THAT BRINGING SEA OTTERS BACK MAY BE ONE SOLUTION. >> FROM HALF MOON BAY ALL THE WAY TO SIGN FOR WASHINGTON, THERE ARE NO SEA OTTERS AND THERE HAVE NOT BEEN FOR 100 YEARS, BUT THERE IS AN IDEA TO REINTRODUCE THEM INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AS A WAY TO REPAIR AN AILING ECOSYSTEM. SEA OTTERS MAY BE ADORABLE TO LOOK AT AND FUN TO WATCH, BUT WHAT AND HOW MUCH THEY EAT HAS PUT THEM AT THE CENTER OF A DEBATE. >> SEA OTTERS PLAY A KEY ROLE IN KELP FOREST ECOSYSTEMS. >> THEY ARE THE SECOND MOST DESTRUCTIVE ANIMAL NEXT TO MAN. >> Reporter: LAST SUMMER, THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE BEGAN FLOATING THE IDEA OF REINTRODUCING SEA OTTERS TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON, AND NOW THEY ARE HOLDING OPEN HOUSES LIKE THIS ONE IN SAUSALITO. THE PROBLEM IS KELP FORESTS THAT HAVE BEEN DYING OFF THANKS TO AN EXPLOSION OF SEA URCHINS, WHICH IS HAPPENING BECAUSE SEA STARS ARE BEING KILLED BY RISING TEMPERATURES. BUT THE URCHIN'S ONLY OTHER NATURAL PREDATOR, SEA OTTERS, WERE NEARLY HUNTED TO EXTINCTION. THE IDEA IS TO TRY TO BRING THEM BACK TO SAVE THE KELP. >> THEY EAT A LOT OF SEA URCHINS AND THAT HELPS DEFEND THE KELP FROM OVERGRAZING. WHEN THE KELP IS PROTECTED IT TENDS TO EXPAND AND CREATE RESILIENT KELP BEDS. KELP BEDS SUPPORT A HUGE DIVERSITY OF SPECIES IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT. >> Reporter: IN MANY PLACES THE OCEAN FLOOR IS CARPETED WITH NEARLY DEAD URCHINS AND NOT MUCH ELSE. THEY CALL THEM URCHIN BARONS. >> BASICALLY IT IS AN UNDERWATER DESERT IN WHICH THE KELP HAS BEEN WIPED OUT. >> Reporter: IN A 2013 STUDY, OTTERS WERE REINTRODUCED IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND WITHIN ONE YEAR MOST OF THE URCHINS WERE GONE AND KELP WAS BEGINNING TO REGROW. BUT DOUG JOHN IS AN AVID ABALONE DIVER. HE SAYS THE OTTERS WILL BE WIPING OUT ALL EXISTING SHELLFISH. >> THEY ARE CUTE. WE ALL LOVE THEM. BUT WE DON'T WANT THEM TO STRIP MINE, AND LET ME REPEAT STRIP MINE, THE REST OF THE COAST. >> Reporter: HE SAYS THE ABALONE WOULD BE SITTING DUCKS FOR THE OTTERS. >> OF SEA OTTERS,, THEY WILL WIPE THEM OUT IMMEDIATELY. THEN YOU WILL HAVE NO BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND NO ABALONE. >> Reporter: DEPENDING ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT, THE APPETITE OF THE OTTER IS EITHER A BLESSING OR CURSE, BUT AS USUAL IT WAS MAN WHO UPSET THE BALANCE OF NATURE IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE QUESTION IS, DO WE HAVE THE WISDOM TO SET THINGS STRAIGHT, OR MERELY MAKE THINGS WORSE? >> SCIENTISTS THINK THE MOST LIKELY PLACE TO START WOULD BE ALONG THE OREGON COAST, BUT REINTRODUCING OTTERS CAN
