Between August 12-20, four male sea otters were found dead, washed up on beaches near Santa Cruz, California. Ashley Spratt of the Fish and Wildlife Service said that the fourth death on August 20th had a suspected gunshot wound. She also tells The Guardian that finding gunshot otters in the same general area in a short amount of time is very unusual. The article also reveals that this case is under investigation and the carcasses have been brought to the US Fish and Wildlife forensic lab in Oregon for detailed necropsies. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has also announced a $10,000 reward for any leads to the person responsible for killing the sea otters.
Sea Otters Under Threat
You may be thinking, why has the death of four otters hit the news stands? This is because sea otters on the Pacific Coast are considered a threatened species. They’re protected by the federal Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act under California state law. Killing or harassing federally protected wildlife is a crime and punishable by fines. Anyone who kills sea otters could receive fines up to $100,000 and a jail sentence.
Sea otters were once a prevalent species along the Pacific
Coast, until they were hunted by humans for their pelts during the 18th and 19th century. Because of their thick beautiful fur and human greed, the sea otter population declined rapidly. In 1911 they gained protection under the North Pacific Fur Seal Treaty. And during that time only about 50 sea otters survived along the remote coast of Big Sur. In 1977 they were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of the United States.
The Importance of Sea Otters
From this population decline, their importance as a keystone species was realized. With
less sea otters eating one of their
favourite foods (sea urchins), the sea urchin population quickly increased. With the increase of sea urchins along the
Pacifc Coast, more kelp was being eaten. Having an uncontrolled number of sea urchins soon compromised the kelp forest ecosystem. Sea otters also eat crabs in estuaries which
prevents mass predation on snails. If the crab population is not kept in check then they’ll continue eating the snails.
WIth less snails to graze on algae, the excess of algae chokes out the eel grass. Again, this compromises the other creatures that rely on a healthy
eel grass ecosystem.
Status of Sea Otters Today
Since 1911 their population has slowly been expanding in range and in numbers to about 3,000. From 2014, their geographic range was from Half Moon Bay
in the northern Pacific Coast to Point Conception in the south. Today sea otters are still under threat, but their populations have increased since they received status as a threatened species, and since the hunting of sea otters became punishable by law.
Although the sea otter population is making a comeback, they are still under threat by humans. Today their biggest threats are pollutants in the ocean, oil
spills and coastal tanker traffic. Sea otters are subject to parasites and infectious diseases because of high pathogens and contaminant pollution levels. Oil spills could easily decimate the recovering sea otter population because of their relatively small geographic area. Oil ruins the insulating properties of sea otter fur which causes many of them to die from hypothermia. Unlike whales, sea otters have no blubber to keep them warm; they rely solely on their thick fur. Because of the coastal tanker
traffic a number of sea otters die from ingesting oil or inhaling petroleum fumes.
What’s Being Done to Conserve Sea Otters?
The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California has a number of initiatives to better understand the sea otters along the Pacific Coast. They also partner with the US Geological Survey and other scientists studying sea otters, from Russia and Alaska to southern California. Here are some of their research and conservation efforts:
Tagging and tracking
Along the California
coast they tag dozens of wild sea otters to track and
moniter their life spans.
Sea otter counts
Every spring and fall the aquarium and other scientists and colleagues spread out along the California coast to count sea otters for the US Geological Survey annual census.
Development of new technologies
They work with medical and engineering experts to find ways to track and monitor sea otters that will be less stressful for the animals. Some developments in the making are smaller implantable transmitters and time-depth recorders, new physiological sensors, improved data-retrieval systems and improved surgical techniques.
Studying stranded sea otters
The aquarium takes in stranded sea otters to keep track of their health to help rehabilitate them back to “normal” health.
Retrieving and analyzing carcasses
They respond to sea otter carcasses that have been found in order to take samples and analyze their cause of death to enhance future research.
Raise and release stranded pups
They care for stranded pups and release them once they’re healthy and well. After releasing the sea otters, the aquarium continues to track and monitor them in the wild.
Although the death of four animals may not seem newsworthy, it makes all the difference when the animal in question is under threat. Sea otters are a keystone species along the Pacific Coast, and their conservation is key for a healthy coastal marine ecosystem. Human greed is what caused their decline and it’s human efforts that can give hope to the recovery of sea otters.