Sea Otters

Puns ignored in the making of this title include:

This That and the Otter, Otterly Fascinating, The Otter Side, Otter-wise, The Otter Woman, Like No Otter, In Otter Words, …By Any Otter Name, Do Onto Otters…, In One Ear and out the Otter, On the Otter Hand, Put One Foot in Front of the Otter, Six of One Half-Dozen of the Otter, The Shoe’s on the Otter Foot, Turn the Otter Cheek, The Kelp is Always Greener on the Otter Side of the Fence.

Water weaselsMammalia Carnivora Mustelidae

• Mustelids (65 spp.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgk94Wgz4OQ

A group is called a….

RAFT!

Famous for fur

• Densest fur of any mammal– Up to 650,000 - 1 million per sq. inch– We have 100,000-250,000

Grooming machines

• Up to 48% of the time!

• No blubber• Oil spills

– Ingestion– Hypothermia

Oil spills• Especially vulnerable

– Coastline populations (near people)– Steady vessel traffic

Oil spills

• Exxon Valdez– 1989– 11 tons of crude oil (10.8 million

gallons)– Killed ~2,800 sea otters– Killed ~ 100,000-250,000 sea birds

• BP oil spill (Gulf of Mexico)– 172 million gallons

WA Oil spill prevention/response• Partners and cooperators:

– Industry– Makah Tribal Fisheries– Quinault Indian Nation– Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary– Seattle Aquarium– Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium– State and federal agencies

• US Fish & Wildlife• Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife

Foraging frenzy

• 25% body weight/day• Varied diet including:

– Abalone, bivalves, snails, cucumbers, urchins, sea stars, worms, octopus, squid, crab, fish and fish eggs, birds?

– Pit pockets

Cool tools

• Rocks• Other shells• Docks• Boats• Bottles

Population status

• Pre-hunt – 150,000 – 300,000– (2007) ~ 107,000

• Southern/California– Listed as ‘Threatened” (ESA)- 2,200-2,800– Listed as “Endangered” (IUCN)

• Northern/Alaskan– Alaska, Russia, Canada, Washington– ??? Oregon (newly established)– SE Alaska (Distinct population group)

“Threatened”

Washington population• Just over 1000

– 59 Reintroduced in 1969 and 1970– Outer coast – mostly south of LaPush– Some sightings in San Juans– 2012 – 1 in South Sound

Where are they in WA?• Olympic Nat’l Park (mostly)

– Ya gotta hike….but might be worth it!– Sand Point– Cape Flattery– Cape Johnson– Cedar Creek/Norwegian Memorial– Yellow Banks– south of LaPush– Giant Graveyard– north of the Hoh River near Diamond Rock

Point Grenville

Pillar Point

Sea otter recovery plan• 2004 - WA Fish & Wildlife

– Implement strategies to ensure self-sustaining sea otter population

– Manage current population in a manner consistent with –• Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972)• Federal and State laws• Court rulings• Federal treaties with Native American Tribes

California sea otters: a gap in the Point Reyes ecosystem

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORLckfzD80

Kelp Forest Ecosystem

• Why are they important?– Food, shelter, nursery for 1000s of species– Protect shoreline by slowing wave impact– What else do forests do?– SEQUESTER CARBON!!!!

Microcystin toxin (CA)

• Freshwater cyanobacteria– Produced by a blue-green algae

• Monterey Bay (Estuary)– Rain runoff from 3 rivers – from

Pinto Lake– High levels in shellfish– Liver damage– Tagging survivors

Cat (and opossum?) poop…• Parasite (Toxoplasma gondii)

– (17% of deaths/year)

• How?– Kelp naturally produce a sticky slime.– Parasite eggs stick to slime – Snails eat the kelp (or other seaweeds)– Otters eat the snails

• From– Offshore garbage (kitty litter), also outdoor pets

and feral cats

Otters are the key(stone)

Otters vs. AK/BC Fisheries• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxUKFCg0UeQ

Our otters

• Nellie and Abra• Kaladi• Libby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wavh47RpLz4

Jazz hands!

An expensive fur coat

• Nearly extinct globally by 1900: