(3) Quantifying the effects of sea otters on the littoral community: Consideration should be given to how food availability limits population and ecosystem recovery and on predicting the effect of sea otter reoccupation on commercially valuable resources. While eliminating the predators of sea otters is not scientifically advisable or legally feasible, other management options exist. Why? Several remnant populations of sea otters survived in the Aleutian Islands following the maritime fur trade. U.S.A. 106, 22422247. Under the Canadian Constitution, aboriginal peoples have the right to hunt for subsistence food and for social or ceremonial purposes, but not as a means of reducing sea otter abundance. C.ultimately inconclusive, because it does not incorporate data from sea otter population surveys conducted before 2010. Salomon, A. K., Kiiiljuus Barb, J. W., White, X. E., Tanape, N., and Happynook, T. M. (2015). Ecol. Since its discovery along the coast of central California, the southern sea otter population has grown at anemic rates compared to populations in Alaska. Gorbics, C. S., and Bodkin, J. L. (2001). . Protocol Narrative for Nearshore Marine Ecosystem Monitoring in the Gulf of Alaska: Version 1.1. Population demographics and genetic diversity in remnant and translocated populations of sea otters. Draft Periodic Status Review for the Sea Otter in Washington. Sea otter mortality due to shark attacks has increased since 2003, with a threefold to eightfold increase in the probability of a stranded carcass being shark bitten depending on location (Tinker et al., 2016). Weitzman, B. P., Bodkin, J. L., Kloecker, K. A., and Coletti, H. A. (1990). It includes space for writing their answers and drawing a picture. The geographic range of sea otters has fluctuated over the last 300 years. 32, 9971006. For many years, the central question driving research in California was why this population was growing so slowly. A., Edwards, M., Laidre, K. L., and Konar, B. Geological Survey3020 State University Drive EastSacramento, California 95819. Lensink, C. J. (2018). (2003). doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.96109.x, Raimondi, P., Jurgens, L. J., and Tinker, M. T. (2015). Sea otters can see clearly above and below the water and have good senses of smell and hearing. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listed the southern sea otter population as threatened under theEndangered Species Act (ESA)in 1977 and adopted a recovery plan for the population in 1982, which was updated in 2003. KidsKonnect is a growing library of high-quality, printable worksheets for teachers and homeschoolers. Critique of the evolutionarily significant unit as a definition for distinct population segments under the US endangered Species act. Explain how the otter population in Washington has changed from 1970 to now. When otters are present, urchins hide in crevices and snack on kelp scraps. Worksheet completed alongside the hhmi BioInteractive movie: Some Animals Are More Equal than Others: Keystone Species and Trophic Cascades. For example, in central California, where a higher sea otter density is positively associated with higher black abalone density, sea otter predation may have served to reduce poaching impacts by driving black abalone into deep crevice habitat where they were safe from sea otters and poachers (Raimondi et al., 2015). They have webbed hind legs, which look like flippers. Sea otter population declines in the Aleutian archipelago. Nat. Mar. "Keep Sea Otters in the Picture" poster (Sea Otter History, Web of Life, Sea . What is the general trend in the sea otter population that is seen between 0-15 years? doi: 10.1007/s10021-013-9715-7. As southern sea otters continue their recovery and expansion into southern and northern reaches of the California coast, they will encounter estuary habitats. Their fur contains up to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch. Click the Edit button above to get started. doi: 10.1080/08920750600860282, Lubina, J. Coast. Population Dynamics and Foraging Ecology of Northern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutr. It was once thought that humans were the only significant predator of sea otters and, absent human interference, sea otters were an apex predator within the nearshore system. doi: 10.1111/eva.12642, Garshelis, D. L., Johnson, A. M., and Garshelis, J. Pups are born well-developed with their eyes open, a thick fur coat, and a set of teeth. These results can be useful to the planning of future monitoring and research of sea otters at San Nicolas Island. The data collected by Dr. Estes are shown. For San Nicolas Island (right vertical axis, note scale difference) the trend line (lowest line, in red) represents the annual high counts. Write a letter explaining why an organization should give you money for your work. (2016). Conrad, P. A., Kreuder, C., Mazet, J., Dabritz, H., Grigg, M., James, E., et al. A., et al. Nat. Because demand for sea otter artifacts is small, the number of animals killed yearly is modest but increasing [currently averaging more than 1,000 per year in Alaska (USFWS, Anchorage, AK, United States)]. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. doi: 10.3354/meps082103, Kvitek, R. G., Oliver, J. S., DeGange, A. R., and Anderson, B. S. (1992). doi: 10.1890/10-0262.1. KidsKonnect uses a secure SSL connection to encrypt your data and we only work with trusted payment processors Stripe and PayPal. 59, 874876. In addition, translocating sea otters (see Question 5) beyond areas where shark-bite mortality is especially high in California would allow for additional expansion of the southern sea otter population while translocations among Aleutian Island populations could maintain genetic exchange and heterozygosity within the remaining sea otter hotspots. Plant Sci. Link will appear as Sea Otter Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 5, 2018. The southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) population at San Nicolas Island, California, has been monitored annually since the translocation of 140 sea otters to the island was completed in 1990. These are challenging goals, but with well-articulated uncertainties, the results could be useful to managers in anticipating and planning for sea otters effects on the abundance of commercially or recreationally targeted species of shellfish. Organizations engaged in sea otter management and conservation will benefit from collaboratively designing sea otter monitoring protocols across the North Pacific that will optimize efforts, enable the detection of trends and causes, and provide for spatial contrasts of those variables over time (Coletti et al., 2016). Imagine that you are a marine biologist. Due to their thick, soft pelts, sea otters were hunted extensively until an international ban was enforced to prevent their extinction. Larson, S., Jameson, R., Etnier, M., Fleming, M., and Bentzen, P. (2002b). Following almost two centuries of commercial hunting, sea otter populations were severely reduced; surviving southern sea otters consisted of a small colony of otters along the remote Big Sur coast of central California. Mothers care for their young while floating on their backs. In addition, new technology is needed to remotely track individual animals at larger spatial and temporal scales with increased accuracy. Although the data from these earlier surveys provide reasonably detailed assessments of (1) trends in sea otter abundance and distribution at several index islands (Fig. U.S.A. 110, 1531315318. (2013). They estimated the impact of killer whales on sea otter populations by comparing trends in population size and survival rates of individually marked otters between two adjacent locations on Adak Island: Clam Lagoon and Kuluk Bay. Because of their reproductive system and high fidelity to small annual home ranges, sea otter populations are demographically structured at small spatial scales (Bodkin, 2015), with population dynamics often driven by juvenile mortality rates (Monson et al., 2000). If the trend on the graph continues, what do you predict will happen between years 30-40? Ser. This manuscript has been approved for publication consistent with USGS Fundamental Science Practices (http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1367/). By the time theMarine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)was enacted in 1972, the California population had grown from as few as 50 to more than 1,000 individuals (an average annual growth rate of about 5 percent). doi: 10.2307/3800973. Appl. 131, 526543. Conrad, P. A., Miller, M. A., Kreuder, C., James, E. R., Mazet, J., Dabritz, H., et al. Welcome to Zinnia's Caf. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2013) from Attu at the western tip of the Aleutians to a boundary drawn down the middle of lower Cook Inlet, approximately 2,500 linear km. (2005a). doi: 10.1126/science.aap9289, Larson, S., Jameson, R., Bodkin, J., Staedler, M., and Bentzen, P. (2002a). Oceanogr. As the population expanded both north and south into habitat that was not observable from shore, aircraft were used for surveys. WERC collaborates with other research scientists to conduct annual population surveys of the southern sea otter -- a federally listed threatened species. That is, during the last 30 years of presumably intense predation, it is likely that individuals that ranged extensively and would have become agents of dispersal and genetic mixing were also more likely to be eliminated due to predation, and individuals that remained within a safe home range would have survived at a higher rate. Currently, the Alaska sea otter population is divided into three stocks (Gorbics and Bodkin, 2001). Resource Competition, Space Use and Forage Ecology of Sea Otters, Enhydra lutris, in Southern Southeast Alaska. A., and Palmisano, J. F. (1974). (2012) treated the reduction of poaching and predation as independent strategies, they may in fact interact. doi: 10.2307/1379491, Simenstad, C. A., Estes, J. Sea Otter Worksheets This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about sea otters across 25 in-depth pages. Dis. 19. 26, 10161025. As a result, research will need to focus on a few sites that are representative of the variety of littoral habitats occupied by sea otters around the North Pacific Rim. 59, 385401. Mamm. endobj Testing the nutritional-limitation, predator-avoidance, and storm-avoidance hypotheses for restricted sea otter habitat use in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Monson, D. H. (2009). See the fact file below for more information on Sea Otters, or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Sea Otter worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment. Can. J. Arch. Experiment: Are fingerprint patterns inherited? 39, 15531571. Ecol. (1986). doi: 10.2307/4870, Estes, J. In Elkhorn Slough near Moss Landing, California, scientists hope to compile new data to support the recovery of the southern sea otter, a federally threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-801402-8.00005-6, Lee, J., Watson, C., Trebilco, R., and Salomon, A. K. (2016). Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems. Why do you think sea otters have done better in Washington State than in other areas, such as Oregon and Northern Mexico, where the animals once lived? With no more otters to eat them, the sea urchins, which eat the Clim. In addition, wolves (Canis lupus) are suspected to take live sea otters both on the Alaska Peninsula and near Glacier Bay in Alaska. 4 0 obj Pre-maritime fur trade management of sea otter abundance and coastal marine ecosystems suggests some form of population monitoring and management by indigenous peoples of North America to preserve shellfish resources (Simenstad et al., 1978; Salomon et al., 2015). Proc. Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) and Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in the North Pacific: Evaluating Mortality Patterns and Assessing Population Status at Multiple Time Scales. Since 1993, we have conducted aerial surveys of sea . doi: 10.1890/14-0492.1, Mazzillo, F. F. M., Shapiro, K., and Silver, M. W. (2013). doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-801402-8.00011-1. What percentage of your weight would those burgers represent. Stability, resilience, and phase shifts in kelp forest communities along the west coast of Vancouver Island. Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Biologist & Southwest Region Dive Safety Officer, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC). (1960). (2001). These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. We attempt to assign a cause to observed changes by contrasting top-down (sea otter foraging efficiency and prey abundance) and bottom-up (recruitment, growth rates and environmental metrics such as temperature) processes among the four regions and the scale at which changes occur (e.g., similar changes across all areas vs. changes observed asynchronously among regions). Evidence that this decline is due to the top-down effects of killer whales includes the following: (1) the observed rate of killer whale predation events is consistent with the expected frequency relative to observer effort, (2) declines have occurred in outer coastal habitats but not within lagoon habitats inaccessible to killer whales (e.g., Clam Lagoon on Adak Island), (3) carcasses deposition on beaches has not increased during the decline (i.e., sea otters consumed entirely), (4) energetic calculations show that only a small number of killer whales could explain the decline (i.e., it is feasible that one pod caused the entire decline), (5) the geographic extent of the decline indicates that the cause is not localized (i.e., not from a point-source of contaminants), (6) the lack of evidence of disease or toxins in live-captured animals indicates that disease is not the cause, (7) there has been a dramatic nearshore shift (to within 100 m from shore) in sea otter distribution with the only remaining areas of outer coast sea otter concentrations (hotspots) characterized by shallow, complex reef habitats that are less accessible to killer whales, and (8) sea otter behavior when disturbed has changed (i.e., before the decline sea otters would move offshore, but after the decline they move close to shore or haul out). 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