The California Department of Fish and Wildlife released its 2019 sea otter census survey for the state.
This year's numbers show there was a slight decline in the sea otter population.
Since California sea otters are listed as endangered species, fish and wildlife experts have been doing surveys on the sea otter population once a year since 1983 to keep track of their population trends.
Senior Environmental Scientist, Mike Harris says, "We believe the great white shark population is rebounding, the growing population of great whites is overlapping with the existing sea otter habitat."
Harris says those interactions have increased significantly over the past 10 years. He adds that there is nothing they can do to stop the great white population from growing, but they can control the disease the otters get.
As of right now, wildlife experts are working to improve the population by preventing sea otters from dying due to certain illnesses.
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