Northern Sea Otter Tiffany Kunrath

Scientific Name: Enhydra lutris kenyoni

Geographic Distribution Found in the Aleutian Islands, Southern Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington Ninety percent of the world’s sea otters live in Alaska’s coastal waters. Its range once extended from Baja California north then west through the Aleutian Islands, to the Kamchatka Peninsula, and south to the northern islands of Japan.

Geographic Distribution Map

Habitat Type Temperate coastal waters with rocky or soft sediment ocean bottom Live in offshore forests of giant kelp Eat, rest, and groom themselves at the water surface Capable of diving to depths of at least 45 meters, but prefer coastal waters up to 30 meters deep

Current Status Threatened By the Endangered Species Act The south-west Alaska stock of northern sea otters has declined sharply (over 80%) in the last two decades

Factors Leading to Threatened Status Predation By killer whales Overharvest Low reproductive rates Fishery interactions Gear entanglement and competition for food resources Disease High number of males dying from Strep Syndrome Oil spill Due to the high amount of time they spend floating at the water surface, grooming their fur and potentially ingesting oil

Conservation/Protection Measures The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for managing sea otter populations. The sea otter is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits direct harvest of marine mammals with the exception of subsistence hunting. In 1997, USFWS signed a cooperative agreement with the Alaska Sea Otter and Steller Sea Lion Commission. This agreement has been renewed annually since that time. The development of emergency and long-term measures to protect cultural resources along Alaska's coastline.

Opinions and Suggestions of Protections Measures Opinion of Current Protection Measures: Suggestion for Improving Protection Measures: Since stock of northern sea otters has decreased by nearly 80% over the last two decades, I don’t think there are enough protection measures for the northern sea otter. I think that subsistence hunting should be prohibited.

Resources https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A0HK http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=seaotter.main http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Enhydra_lutris/ http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/oilspill.htm