The Bay Area is a biodiversity hotspot, home to species found nowhere else on Earth. But decades of urbanization have pushed many of these animals — and the ecosystems they depend on — to the edge. Can science bring them back? In this episode, we examine the remarkable comeback of the southern sea otter and an ongoing effort to resurrect the long lost Xerces blue butterfly.

Additional Resources:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2025/08/21/is-extinction-pe%E2%80%A6s-blue-butterfly/">Is Extinction Permanent? Resurrecting California's Xerces Blue Butterfly</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/12052889">Healthy Otters Lead to a Happy Ecosystem in Monterey County's Elkhorn Slough</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2025/08/21/is-extinction-pe%E2%80%A6s-blue-butterfly/#A">Read the transcript for this episode</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/bay-curious">Sign up for our newsletter</a></li>
 <li>Enter our <a href="https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious#hearken-10392">Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest</a>
</li>
 <li>Got a question you want answered? <a href="https://modules.wearehearken.com/bay-curious/embed/656/share">Ask</a>!</li>
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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to <a href="https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts">https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts</a>

This story was reported by Gabriela Glueck. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED.

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