1. SEA OTTERS Life and Death

2. Major Objectives Sea otter evolution
Relationship between sea otter and man
Sea otter’s role as a keystone predator
Sea otters and kelp forests
Sea otter futures
Which came first? The otter or the kelp forest?
Sea otter ancestors occur around 20 mya
Today’s otter evolved around 2 mya
Kelp starts to develop around 20 mya
20 million years of evolution only to come into contact with the new species human beings a few thousand years ago and face the possible end to an epic journey
Sea otters may go extinct because of humans

3. Evolution of today’s sea otter
2 million years ago…Enhydra lutris

4. Humans like sea otters
Only once otters were hunted to near extinction a hundred years ago did people began to care about the animal
Now they are treasured by most, protected revered, adored
They are still killed, though, without mercy and with complete disregard to their right for existence by a murderous few
Still in a lifelong struggle with humans

5. In the beginning…
The sea otter’s range was massive compared to today’s range
Consisted of all of the Northern Pacific (Japan to Russia to Alaska to the West coast of North America all the way down to midway along the Baja peninsula
Roughly otters alive by the time mass genocide began to occur

6. A simple and complex life
Food, shelter, breed, avoid being eaten
Before human/otter contact, sea otters lived a life as simple as it was complex
Sea otters only inhabit areas where there are kelp forests
Specific kelp forest habitats will only exist while the sea otter is there
Sea otters have always lived a highly vulnerable lifestyle while being the controlling factor for a highly diverse ecosystem
Only predators: bald eagles (otter pups), shark, perhaps the rare killer whale

7. Sea otters eat a lot of meat
Sea otters eat meat, and lots of it
They are the only mammal of the Order Carnivora to be found in the sea
They have an extremely fast metabolism requiring a daily intake of 30% or more of their body weight
Learned innovative behavior is key to successful food gathering (complex brain allows for problem-solving, tool-using, tool-making – tools consist of everything from rocks to past prey shells to, in recent years, broken bottles)
Padded paws and strong teeth allow for grasping wiggly prey or biting through hard material (able to rip open beer cans in which octopus hide

8. Work of a keystone predator
Favorite foods: urchins, abalone, mussels, octopus, fish, snails, etc.
Sea otters eat the animals which, if not preyed upon, would eat the kelp
Kelp forests provide a home for hundreds of different organisms (fish, invertebrates, mammals, birds) and act as nursery for many others

9. Keystone predator in action

10. Otters love urchins There are kelp forests because there are otters
In a kelp forest community where sea otters live, there is never a huge abundance of sea urchins nor are there many large specimens
Without the impact of otter predation, sea urchins are witnessed to explode in body and pop. size, eating away the kelp stalks and creating an “urchin barren”
All that is left is ground covered with coralline algae and thousands of urchins

11. Kelp forest stability Human hunting changes the kelp forest structure
Alaskan kelp forests are characterized by less diversity than k.f. of lower latitudes
Otters are the only predator found in A. k. f., unlike other coasts
For millions of years, kelp forests maintained a stable life
The intervention of human hunting has resulted in catastrophic changes

12. The first otter kill 8-9000 ya, otters become an easy target
Otters live along coastal regions, and so are an easy target for hungry humans
It is presumed otters were hunted by first colonies of the otter’s entire range
In Alaska, first colonization est. to have occurred ya
Alaskan otters estimated to have begun being hunted roughly 2500 ya
Evidence comes from bones in indigenous middens
Otters first hunted merely for meat and warmth
These boats are seen on Kodiak island, 1888
Throwing boards were used to send harpoons in farther with more force.

13. Russians get lost in Alaska
Russians discover Alaskan wildlife in 1741
Russians sail in North Pacific, starving and lost, find a treasure of wild life living off Alaska islands
Captain Berring discovers otters as well as now extinct giant sea cow in Commandeer islands and is excited by new food supply in 1741
Sea cows, which used to exist in same range of otters, now exist in a few thousand numbers only around a few islands, later to become known as Berring Islands
Bering, a Danish explorer, was in the service of Russia when he discovered the Bering Strait and Sea in In 1741 he discovered Alaska and traded with the First Nations peoples, collecting large numbers of sea otter pelts which could be sold for very high prices in China. For this reason Russia established trading posts in Alaska. Alaska remained Russian territory until it was sold to the United States in 1867

14. Sea cow is easy meat
Last few thousand steller’s sea cows on the planet have a hard time of it
Steller’s sea cow is easier to kill than sea otter
Sailors take advantage of sea cow’s close proximity to shore, extreme fearlessness and casual nature in order to wade out from shore and hack away at will
Meat is really good to eat and there are many of them
Slaughtered to extinction 27 (1768) years later due to fearlessness of man
Sign of things to come for sea otter

15. Sea otter genocide Otters previously only hunted for warmth and food
Previously, otters only hunted for necessity
Russians desire the rich coat because of greed
Russians prevent indigenous Alaskans from hunting sea otters out of necessity any longer
Russians force Alaskans to catch and kill otters so the pelts can be taken home

16. The massacre continues
Demand for otter fur grows throughout the world
Posts are set up almost everywhere in otter’s range for hunting, from Baja peninsula to Japan
Even when otters are killed and the fur is not as beautiful as others, hunters discover ways to dye the fur darker

17. The process of skinning
The fleshy pieces still attached to the fur are scraped off delicately so as not to cut into the fur
The otter is trapped or clubbed, killed
The fur is stripped from the otter’s body, hunters taking as much as possible with as delicate care in order to make sure every inch of fur is perfect
Stretching fur out, it can reach 3 meters square, more than half the length of otter’s body
The skin is oiled down
The fleshy pieces still attached to the fur are scraped off delicately so as not to cut into the fur
Otter fur is smoked and dried
The fur is prized all over the world beyond any other fur for its rich lustrous dark color and extraordinary warmth
There are estimated to be over 100 million hairs on an otter coat and these are all treasured by the humans who wear them

18. What the otters used fur for…
Otters can spend 50% of daylight hours cleaning their fur
Otters used their fur for same purpose – to keep warm
Every cuticle on the otter’s skin has 60 hairs 20 mm. long coming out along with one longer, thicker guard hair
Otters can spend 50% of daylight hours cleaning their fur
Fur must remain dry in water -20 below zero in order for the otter to stay alive

19. A daily life of peril Otters can die from the cold
If fur is not constantly cleaned, it gets wet – when cold water touches otter’s skin, the otter will quickly die of hypothermia
Otters constantly clean their fur and blow into it in order to build a layer of air underneath fur which acts as insulation
Otters do not have layer of blubber, only fur
Once fur gets wet, they can also quickly drown
The fur that keeps the otter alive is the same thing for which they were exterminated

20. The last of the otters
150 years after excessive hunting, people realize a mistake has been made
Sea otter population drops from previous to 3 thousand by late 1800s – only found in Alaska, gone from rest of range
People start to realize that the otter may go extinct after nearly 150 years of excessive hunting and decide to protect it
1911 – International Fur Treaty is established, making it illegal to kill sea otters, even for Alaskan indigenous people
a. Distribution of sea otters before fur harvest began in 1741 and populations that survived the harvest, providing the nucleus for recovery of the species. Width of shaded area is not relative to sea otter habitat.

21. Otters repopulate the world
Miraculously, otter population has not been too far reduced for regrowth
Although sea otters have slow gestation periods (6 months) and only usually give birth to 1 infant (twins are exceptions), pop. slowly builds up
By 1980’s, pop. assessed: nearly otters alive on Earth, primarily in Alaska
Pop. of 2000 discovered in California after thought to be locally extinct
Worldwide population thought to be at safe equilibrium density

22. Otter death still occurs
Aleutians demand cultural hunting rights back
Sea otters made into many things, including teddy bears. Not this teddy bear, but a teddy bear like it.

23. Ignorant violence
Californians deliberately murder protected sea otters
People are arrested off coast of California for deliberately murdering sea otters for no reason other than the act itself
One man drives his motor boat through a raft of hundreds of otters while shooting several with a .22 gun
One man traps and partially skins an otter, then leaves it in a ditch, only to be arrested later w/ girlfriend charged as an accomplice
Many other such incidents occur throughout the years

24. Otters are loved
Despite rare deaths, otters now cherished in many parts of the world
Despite rare deaths, otters now cherished and protected throughout the world – become the most extensively studied marine mammal and prized exhibit in zoos
Recognized as a keystone predator maintaining kelp ecosystems & a highly intelligent mammal
By the late 1980’s, sea otters had rebounded from a history of devastation turned to consideration

25. A new threat emerges
In 1991, first killer whale attack on Alaskan otter is witnessed
In 1991, the first attack by a killer whale on a sea otter is witnessed by otter ecologists – not considered significant, just surprising
In 1994, population analysis of Alaskan Islands reveals a drop of 90% in several locations
By 1998, Alaskan otter population estimated to have dropped dramatically to 45,000 from previous 148,000
Scientists struggle to find answer

26. Otter killer 3 killer whales, 3-6 otters a day, ten years
Alaskan killer whales appear to have shifted their diet from Steller sea lions and fur seals to sea otters
Islands without killer whale access still have healthy otter populations
It is estimated that one killer whale would require three full grown 60 pound sea otters a day in order to maintain caloric requirements
It is estimated that three killer whales could hypothetically have caused the reduction of nearly 100,000 sea otters within a ten year period
More killer whales are likely to be causing pop. drop

27. Whale killer
The reasons why

28. Red for murder
Geography of reported whale harvested species in N. Pacific ocean and Berring Sea from 1946 thru 1979

29. Solutions to the problem
No solution except the impossible
No obvious solution
Ironically, two species once hunted to extremely low numbers have clashed due to human beings
If killer whales continue to hunt sea otters until there are no more left in order to survive, Alaskan pop. will consist of only a few thousand
Neither killer whales nor sea otters can be removed safely before this predator-prey interaction reaches its conclusion

30. Cetacean populations
Before and after hunting.

31. A great fall Whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters
The chance that a change in fishing practices could eventually result in replenished stocks of sea lion and fur seal fish prey, resulting in change back of killer whales to natural prey, and sea otters grow again
Fishing practices will not change
Chances of killer whales changing back, anyway, are not high
Time it takes for fish pop. to rebuild and chance for fur seals and sea lions to recover will be too long and might not be possible

32. The threat of extinction
Can the sea otter still go extinct?
Killer whales ecology and behavior cannot be changed directly as making otter hunting illegal proves
While perhaps the otter may not go extinct, it may at least be reduced to unhealthy numbers below 10,000, while kelp forests across Alaska will collapse
Eventually, killer whales may move on or starve to death once there are no more sea otters

33. A sign of things to come Ripple effects
This killer whale/sea otter phenomenon may represent other dangers for other marine life
Animals which never had conflict before currently are in conflict due to human impacts
Once thought that open-water activities could not have any effect on coastal environments: proven wrong
Once thought that marine fish populations were inexhaustible, endless, and could continue to forever
Ignorance has resulted in tragic losses which are increasing in time over mere years

34. Rise and fall
The sea otter’s life history has been shaped by human greed
This is all what many people saw. They wanted the fur. The sea otter’s life has changed drastically due to human beings

35. Sea otter today
A different relationship currently exists