Mobile Sea Otters
Collaborate to Conserve
No nation appreciates the culinary benefits of kelp and seaweed more than Japan. Mobile Sea Otters aims to restore and conserve the beautiful and fertile Japanese seaweed forests, collaborating with scientists, fishermen, divers and others to help conserve a healthy marine ecosystem, contribute to the local fishery industry, and mitigate climate change.
Field activities with volunteer divers include culling overgrazing urchins (considered a culinary delicacy) that eat through kelp forests, as well as installing spore bags to help seaweeds grow. Regular educational workshops aim to increase awareness and share the best practices with divers who wish to support Mobile Sea Otters. The Otters are also mapping and quantifying blue carbon (CO2 sequestered by kelp and seaweed) in various regions across Japan, including the Oita, Yamaguchi, Chiba and Iwate prefectures. Find out more.
