As sea otter populations continue to expand in their range and numbers, monitoring will become increasingly challenging, likely resulting in reduced effort and statistical power to detect change (Williams et al., 2018). 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)]. Monogr. Adult sea otters may eat as much as 9 kg (20 lbs.) (1986). doi: 10.1038/srep33912. Sea otters are a keystone predator in the nearshore food web of the north Pacific Rim (Estes and Duggins, 1995). Ecol. 8:e2852. Since 1993, we have conducted aerial surveys of sea . The conservation and management of sea otters has benefited from a dedicated research effort over the past 60 years enabling this species to recover from a few thousand in the early 20th century to about 150,000 today. How can you back up. Imagine that you are on a hunting ship long ago when there were many sea otters. The U.S. These are great stretches of algae, analogous to terrestrial woodlands, in which kelp fills the role of trees. Finally, with increasing emphasis on the recovery of endangered species and ecosystem function, we need robust methods to quantify the less tangible benefits of recovery to society, including non-use value. Sci. Does tiger shark predation risk influence foraging habitat use by bottlenose dolphins at multiple spatial scales? Mothers care for their young while floating on their backs. (2009). It includes space for writing their answers and drawing a picture. Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have been managed under international law longer (starting in 1911) than most marine mammal species (Figure 1). What would you do? A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. (2011). /ca 1.0 Plot of southern sea otter population trends along the mainland coast of California and at San Nicolas Island over the period 19902013. Estes, J. because of these species reliance on kelp or seagrass habitat during critical phases of their life history. Plant Sci. However, sea otters are now protected by law from extensive hunting in the United States, Canada and Russia and Japan. Setting realistic recovery targets for interacting endangered species. When prepared and cooked correctly, it makes a healthy, tasty stew. . Since its discovery along the coast of central California, the southern sea otter population has grown at anemic rates compared to populations in Alaska. They groom by licking their fur, scratching it with their paws, and rubbing themselves against rocks or logs. To find out more, see our cookie policy. stream A., Ricca, M. A., Miles, A. K., and Forsman, E. D. (2008). The otters are the keystone species of a coastal ecosystem called kelp forests. Disease, parasites and predation were identified as possible factors (Miller et al., 2002, 2004; Kreuder et al., 2003; Conrad et al., 2005a,b, Johnson et al., 2009), but it appeared unlikely that these factors fully explained the populations slow growth. thesis, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. J. Mamm. However, their pre-exploitation range had been seriously fragmented with widely scattered remnant populations in Russia, Alaska, and California. 6) 26, 10161025. During the maritime fur trade, sea otters were exterminated throughout much of their range not by commercial harvest per se, but by serial harvests that extirpated animals from one area to the next (Bodkin, 2015). SL wrote Question 5. The Sea Otter in the Eastern Pacific Ocean North American Fauna. Proc. Relationship between sea otter range expansion and red abalone abundance and size distribution in central California. A., and Jameson, R. J. %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Technical Memorandum National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFC-108. Sea otters likely have been the top-down force structuring clam populations along the KATM coast as clams constitute 63% of the otters diet. (1) Defining populations: Demographically and ecologically, sea otter populations operate at smaller spatial scales than currently recognized by management agencies (e.g., at the subspecies and stock designations that currently span 1,000s of km). B. The threat to the southern sea otter posed by oil spills prompted its listing as a threatened species in 1977. Sea otters are one of the smallest marine mammals in the world, yet they are the largest member of the weasel family. Bednykh, A. M., Burkanov, V. N., Kornev, S. I., and Krivolapov, I. I. For southern sea otters to be considered for removal from threatened . Draft Periodic Status Review for the Sea Otter in Washington. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-801402-8.00001-9, Larson, S. E., Ralls, K., and Ernest, H. (2015). (2003). Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint A., and Kenyon, K. W. (1978). Monogr. Many of these challenges will require new tools including the next generation geolocation tag technology that will allow assessments of long-range movements, dispersal and gene flow in various populations. What questions would you want to answer about sea otters? Recent abundance estimates indicate a stabilization in the sea otter population in areas where clams are the preferred prey, and increased foraging effort indicates that their population may have reached or even exceeded carrying capacity and become food-limited (Coletti et al., 2016). This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members!To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download! These include sea otter ecotourism, their role as an important component of the nearshore ecosystem (see Question 3), as a competitor for commercial and subsistence shellfish fisheries (see Question 6), and as a species traditionally harvested by Alaska Native groups. As sea otters reoccupy an area, populations of epibenthic prey such as sea urchins, crabs and abalone generally decline first followed by infaunal species such as large bivalves, depending on habitat (Kvitek and Oliver, 1992; Kvitek et al., 1993). They are a keystone species, so if they die, so will much of their habitat. Want to read all 7 pages? Other populations, such as the one in California, experienced more modest growth (Estes et al., 2003; see Question 1). We used precision estimates and conducted simulation analyses to assess the power of detecting 10-percent or greater decreases in population growth rates and how this power is likely to change with years of observation, survey effort, and the size of decrease. Sea otter feeding on a California sea cucumber (Apostichopus californicus). magazine, are published by the Society for Science, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education. Population counts of sea otters at the Semichi Islands were done during 4 years in a 10 yr period (1987-1997) to determine their status and trends. Due to their thick, soft pelts, sea otters were hunted extensively until an international ban was enforced to prevent their extinction. Geographic variation in sea otters, Enhydra lutris. From 2017 to 2020, we measured a 22-percent per annum increase in population abundance (95-percent confidence interval =1134 percent) with 114 total individuals as of February 2020. endobj Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Van Wormer, E., Miller, M. A., Conrad, P. A., Grigg, M. E., Rejmanek, D., and Carpenter, T. E. (2014). What is the general trend in the kelp population that is seen between 0-20 years? Link will appear as Sea Otter Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 5, 2018. Following the modern discovery of sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean by Vitus Bering during his expedition in the mid-1700s, the maritime fur trade in the late 18th and 19th centuries reduced sea otter populations to less than 2,000 individuals combined. Tinker, M. T., Doak, D. F., Estes, J. doi: 10.1890/10-0262.1. In addition to their fishery-related impacts, sea otters may come into conflict with recovery efforts for other threatened or endangered species that are part of their natural prey base. PDF documents opened from your If the successful translocations during the last half of the 20th century had not occurred, sea otters still might exist only in portions of Russia, Alaska and California. The model can contribute to responsible stewardship of sea otters and other nearshore marine resources. The most direct effect of humans on sea otter population density was the fur trade, the legacy of which is still apparent today in large areas of unoccupied habitat (Figure 2). /BitsPerComponent 8 doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-801402-8.00013-5, Pennock, D. S., and Dimmick, W. W. (1997). To reduce the risk of a large oil spill contacting otters throughout all or much of the species range, the FWS, in the late 1980s, attempted to establish a separate population at San Nicolas Island through a translocation of otters from the parent range. Wildl. Measurements of species composition, size distribution and population densities in these various habitats allow us to look at trends over time. By then, only a few thousand otters remained, including a small colony of about 50 otters along the coast of central California. (2014). A., Daley, B. Endanger. Sea otter distribution in California (the mainland range) is . 4 0 obj (Theresa Soley/KTOO) John Ryan lives in Hollis, on Prince of Wales Island. Sea otters do not cause the extinction of invertebrate populations, but they necessarily alter recovery targets if they are based on harvest data collected after the extirpation of sea otters. In contrast, white shark predation has had population-level effects within the southern sea otters range (Tinker et al., 2016). Part 2 Top Stud. An increased emphasis should be placed on quantifying the beneficial socioeconomic effects of sea otters (e.g., ecotourism) and sea otter-induced trophic cascades in kelp and seagrass habitats (e.g., benefits to finfish fisheries resulting from increases in finfish populations, increases in atmospheric carbon sequestration, and reduced shoreline erosion). This manuscript includes a review of past research and does not include any new data or metadata releases. Population reconstructions that (a) excluded natural immigration and surrogate-releases, (b) excluded releases but . In 2020, the Commission commented on more proposed revisions to the stock assessment report. Estimates of energy intake rates averaged 17.3 kilocalories per minute (95-percent confidence interval =15.619.0 kilocalories per minute) and suggest possible variations across years and seasons, but confidence intervals based on specific years of data were relatively wide. (2015). They have flattened and rounded molars for crushing and chewing food. Fort Collins, CO: National Park Service. A., and White, C. M. (1975). Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA. These aquatic mammals are members of the weasel family are often seen floating on their backs. In the following, we recommend avenues for future research on sea otters in relation to fisheries, threatened or endangered species, climate change, ecotourism, and non-market valuation to inform the analyses that guide environmental policy and management. Pacific Ocean north American Fauna and Russia and Japan Theresa Soley/KTOO ) John Ryan in., on Prince of Wales Island, S. I., and Forsman, E. D. ( 2008 ) mammals! 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