California sea otters nearly went extinct. Now they’re rescuing their coastal habitat

The California sea otter, once hunted to the edge of extinction, has staged a thrilling comeback in the last century. Now, a team of scientists has discovered that the otters' success story has led to something just as remarkable: the restoration of their declining coastal marsh habitat.

"To me, it's quite an optimistic message," says Christine Angelini, a coastal ecologist at the University of Florida and one of the authors of the study published in the journal Nature.