California Fauna: Clergy and Choir Stall Seat Cushions Click here for general background information on this series. Monterey Bay Place cursor on image to see numbers, which refer to numbers in caption below. Male sea otter group among giant perennial kelp, (left - right) two sea otters, one with 7. Nuttall's cockles on otter's chest; 8. California gull eyeing male sea otter chewing on 9. red abalone with; 10. opalescent squid on stomach. 11. Dozing sea otter yawning and partly covered with giant perennial kelp "blanket". Monterey Bay is an historic bay of central coastal California, its azure depths concealing a deep ocean canyon. Its white sands and near-shore kelp forests are a favored home of the California sea otter. Snatched from near extinction by early conservationists, after a century and a half of fur hunting, the otter is still threatened due to the decline of California coastal water quality. Sea otters feed on shellfish and sea urchins, using stones to crack them open as they float on their backs among the kelp strands. Pelicans and cormorants are also resident. Below the surface, rockfish and squid are abundant, with anemones and starfish on rocky outcrops. Cool nutrient-rich waters flow up from the canyon's depths.