California Sea Lion

California sea lions occupy the same coastal waters as sea otters but pursue a different strategy: offshore fish hunting rather than nearshore invertebrate predation. This creates minimal direct competition—sea lions don't eat urchins, otters don't eat fish. But both depend on healthy coastal ecosystems, creating shared interest in kelp forest health even without direct ecological interaction.

The sea lion's fish-eating strategy makes them indicators rather than controllers of kelp forest health. When kelp forests degrade, fish populations that use kelp as nursery habitat decline, eventually reducing sea lion food. But sea lions can't prevent the degradation—they're not keystone predators. They're canaries in the coal mine rather than fixers of the problem.

The business parallel is the difference between ecosystem participants and ecosystem controllers. Sea lions are like companies that benefit from healthy markets but can't create market health—they're affected by market conditions rather than affecting them. When regulators fail, sea lion companies suffer but can't fix the problem. Understanding which species are keystones (can fix problems) versus indicators (reveal problems) helps identify where intervention makes a difference.