More great news from California!  AB 971, introduced and championed by California Assembly member Bill Monning (D-Carmel) to re-establish the California Sea Otter Fund on state income tax forms, was introduced Wednesday on the California Assembly floor and passed by a vote of 72-3!

Not only does a lot of credit for this bill passing the Assembly floor go to Assemblyman Monning for his tireless efforts and recognition of the importance of sea otters along California’s coasts, but it also goes to the Defenders supporters in California who let their representatives know that they care about sea otters and want to make sure everything is being done to ensure their survival.

Last year was a record year for the number of sea otters found dead (305 animals recovered) and the money raised from the California Sea Otter Fund currently supports a long-term study to determine the impacts that toxic chemicals and disease-carrying pollution are having on sea otters living along the developed areas of the California coast.  While some of these answers are known, researchers are looking for a deeper understanding of the relationships between sea otters and their habitat, questions that can only be answered with continued research funded by the continuation of the California Sea Otter Fund.

This is a big first step in protecting sea otters and ensuring their survival and for your help in this key victory we here at Defenders want to thank you!

AB 971 will be introduced to the Senate sometime in late June to early July.  We hope we can count on you again when the time comes to contact your senators and to tell them to protect these magnificent ocean dwellers.  And once again, thank you very much for your support not only on this, but on all our issues!

For more information on what is being done to help sea otters visit www.saveseaotters.org or check out another project looking at sea otters as measures of the health of nearshore ecosystems throughout North America that is being carried out by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and many others.  While this project isn’t funded by the California Sea Otter Fund, the relevance to sea otter populations in California and to the work being funded by the tax check-off is very significant.

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