Sea Otter Heroes The Predators that Saved an Ecosystem

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 26, 2017

Review

Great resource for studying environmental interactions, symbiosis, and the scientific method used in real life. This is a chapter book: A journey begins, the mystery unfolds, the "aha" moment, proof, unexpected heroes, source notes, selected bibliography, more you "otter" read and watch, and an index. Brent Hughs starts us the journey into Elkhart Slough ( pronounced slew), CA. A boy from Kansas who feel in love with the sea. The mystery how the area shrunk in size from the 1872 South Pacific Railroad, in 1946 the US Army Corps of Engineers dredged the area, and it's very healthy freshwater to seawater 7 mile present day self. Brent's seagrass research in the slough has a follow along section on page 16 using the scientific method. There is also a photo of one of the world's largest sea slugs. A graph on page 21, that shows El Nino is not responsible for the grasses growth or non-growing periods. There is a graph on page 24 that shows the correlation of number of sea otters to the hectare of sea grass. Next are some laboratory experiments, and then the last chapter on unexpected heroes with a page on wolves in Yellowstone. (Could a series be starting?)

Overall Book Score: very good