Enhydra lutris

The Sea Otter is considered to be Endangered due its vulnerability to large-scale population declines. The species is believed to have undergone a decline exceeding 50% over the past 30 years (approximately three generations). The world-wide population of Sea Otters decreased to approximately 2,000 animals by the end of the commercial fur trade in 1911 (Kenyon 1969). The population recovered from 11 remnant populations located in Russia (Bering Island, Kamchatka Peninsula, and Kuril Islands) and in the United States (in Alaska (Aleutian Islands, Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak archipelago, and Prince William Sound) and California). The remnant populations were small and widely dispersed, as a result, this species has low genetic diversity (Ralls et al. 1983). Since the 1980s, the species had been recovering in many areas thanks to intensive management and regulatory efforts by several governments. However contemporary issues (oil spills, potential fisheries interactions, predation, and disease events), have either prevented Sea Otter populations from thriving or have caused population declines throughout much of the species range. In the United States, two subspecies of Sea Otters are listed as threatened (E. lutris kenyoni in SW Alaska and E. lutris nereis in California) due to precipitous population declines in Alaska and slow growth (and vulnerability to anthropogenic factors) of a small population in California.

In Alaska, precipitous population declines occurred in the Aleutian Islands beginning in the late 1980s–2005. By 2000, counts of Sea Otters had decreased by 90% with a declining trend through 2005 (Doroff et al. 2003, Estes et al. 2005, Burn et al. 2003). The probable cause of the decline was increased predation by killer whales (Orcinus orca) (Estes et al. 1998).  More recent Sea Otters surveys indicate the population trend has increased since 2005, however, counts remain well below carrying capacity for this region (D.M. Burn pers. comm. 2010). Population counts also remain low for the Alaska Peninsula (Burn and Doroff 2005, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Stock Assessment Reports). The population in the Kodiak archipelago and lower Cook Inlet appeared stable or increasing during the same period that population declines were documented in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula (Kodiak and lower Cook Inlet are part of the Southwest population stock), however, this habitat has not been surveyed since 2004.

Recent studies have found infectious disease to be an important mortality factor in California Sea Otter populations (Conrad et al. 2005, Johnson et al. 2009). Information collected from forensic-level necropsies of dead Sea Otters and sampling of free-ranging Sea Otters indicate a strong link to protozoan parasites, Toxoplasma gondii and Sacrocystis neurona, that are known to breed in cats and opossums (Thomas and Cole 1996, Conrad et al. 2005) thus sources of mortality for the Sea Otter population include land-based factors. Other factors identified as causing significant mortality include acanthocephalan peritonitis, protozoal encephalitis, bacterial and fungal infections (Thomas and Cole 1996).

The situation in the Russian Federation is clearer now. The Sea Otter number on the Commander Islands reached maximum since last 150 years period (A. Burdin and S.V. Zagrebelny pers. comm. 2006). In 2007, the direct count revealed around 8,000 otters in both Bering and Medny Islands. The Commanders Island population of Sea Otter was never so abundant, but in 2008, it was found that the population was on decline. In 2004 the Kuril Islands population of Sea Otter was estimated around 19,000 (Kornev and Korneva 2004), but later count have shown sever decline (up to 40–50% in different locations). Though the causes of such decline are not very clear, the threat due to poaching can’t be ruled out.

Historically, Sea Otters occurred across the North Pacific Rim, ranging from Hokkaido, Japan, through the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, the Aleutian Islands, peninsular and south coastal Alaska and south to Baja California, Mexico (Kenyon 1969). In the early 1700s, the worldwide population was estimated to be between 150,000 (Kenyon 1969) and 300,000 individuals (Johnson 1982). Although it appears that harvests periodically led to local reductions of Sea Otters (Simenstad et al. 1978), the species remained abundant throughout its range until the mid-1700s. Following the arrival in Alaska of Russian explorers in 1741, extensive commercial harvest of Sea Otters over the next 150 years resulted in the near extirpation of the species. When Sea Otters were afforded protection by the International Fur Seal Treaty in 1911, probably fewer than 2,000 animals remained in 13 remnant colonies (Kenyon 1969). Remnant populations were located in the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and in the Commander Islands Russia; five in Southwestern Alaska (the Aleutian Islands, Alaska Peninsula, and Kodiak Island), and one remnant population in each of the following regions;  Southcentral Alaska (Prince William Sound), Canada (Queen Charlotte Islands), central California, and Mexico (San Benito Islands) (Estes 1980). However, the Queen Charlotte, Canada and San Benito Island, Mexico remnant Sea Otter populations have presumably died out and likely did not contribute to the recolonization of the species following near extirpation (Kenyon 1969).

In north America, the Sea Ottes range is fairly continuous from the Aleutian Islands to Prince William Sound with population gaps along the Gulf of Alaska until Yakutat (which was a translocated population) with another gap in the population’s distribution until the outer islands of Southeast Alaska (also a translocated population form the Aleutian Islands and Prince William Sound). The next gap in the Sea Otter population distribution is between Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. Translocation efforts were successful in Washington State but not in Oregon thus there is a large population gap between the small Sea Otter population in Washington and that of central California.

The Sea Otter population thought to have once been 150,000 to 300,000, occurring along the North Pacific from northern Japan to the central Baja Peninsula in Mexico. Its abundance was greatly reduced by human exploitation. Between 1751 and 1911 the distribution was reduced to 13 known remnant populations: two in the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka; one in the Commander Islands; a total of 10 in the following areas: Aleutian Islands (2)and along the Alaska Peninsula (3); Kodiak Island (1), Prince William Sound (1), the Queen Charlotte Islands (1), central California (1), and San Benito Islands (1). However, the Queen Charlotte, Canada and San Benito Island, Mexico remnant Sea Otter populations have died out and likely did not contribute to the recolonization of the species following near extirpation (Kenyon 1969).

Sea Otters currently have established populations in parts of the Russian east coast, Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, and California, and there have been reports of single-animal observations in Mexico and Japan. Population estimates made between 2004 and 2007 give a worldwide total of approximately 106,822 Sea Otters. In Russia, population monitoring has increase for Sea Otters throughout the range and number are about 19,000 are in the Kurils, 2,000 to 3,500 on Kamchatka and another 5,000–5,500 on the Commander Islands.  The Sea Otter population in Alaska was estimated at between 100,000 and 125,000 individuals in 1973. By 2006, however, the estimated population had fallen to an estimated 73,000 animals in Alaska. A massive decline in Sea Otter population in the Aleutian Islands accounts for most of the change; the cause of this decline is not known, although orca predation was suspected. The Sea Otter population in Prince William Sound was also hit hard by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which killed thousands of Sea Otters in 1989. Along the North American coast south of Alaska, the Sea Otter's range is discontinuous. Between 1969 and 1972, 89 Sea Otters were flown or shipped from Alaska to the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. They established a healthy population, estimated to be over 3,000 as of 2004, and their range is now from Tofino to Cape Scott. In 1989, a separate colony was discovered in the central British Columbia coast. It is not known if this colony, which had a size of about 300 animals in 2004, was founded by transplanted otters or by survivors of the fur trade. In 1969 and 1970, 59 Sea Otters were translocated from Amchitka Island to Washington State. Annual surveys between 2000 and 2004 have recorded between 504 and 743 individuals, and their range is in the Olympic Peninsula from just south of Destruction Island to Pillar Point. California has over 3,000 Sea Otters, descendants of approximately 50 individuals discovered in 1938. The spring 2009 Sea Otter survey counted 2,654 Sea Otters in the central California coast, which is suggestive of a population that is stable or slightly declining; counts are down from an estimated pre-fur trade population of 16,000 (USGS unpublished data). California's Sea Otters are the descendants of a single colony of about 50 southern Sea Otters discovered near Big Sur in 1938; their principal range is now from just south of San Francisco to Santa Barbara County. In the late 1980s, the US Fish and Wildlife Service relocated about 140 California Sea Otters to San Nicolas Island in southern California for establishing a reserve population should the mainland is struck by an oil spill. The San Nicholas population initially shrank as the animals migrated back to the mainland, as of 2005, only 30 Sea Otters remained at San Nicholas, thriving on the abundant prey around the island.

Throughout their range, Sea Otters use a variety of near shore marine environments and 84% of foraging occurs in water ≤ 30m in depth (Bodkin et al. 2004) and throughout much of their range, foraging occurs within a kilometer of the shore. Their classic association is with rocky substrates supporting kelp beds, but they also frequent soft-sediment areas where kelp is absent (Riedman and Estes 1990, DeMaster et al. 1996, Burn and Doroff 2005). Kelp canopy is an important habitat component, used for foraging and resting (Riedman and Estes 1990). They are found most often in areas with protection from the most severe ocean winds, such as rocky coastlines, thick kelp forests, and barrier reefs. Although they are most strongly associated with rocky substrates, Sea Otters can also live in areas where the sea floor consists primarily of mud, sand, or silt. Individuals generally occupy a home range a few kilometers long, and remain there year-round. Sea Otters forage in rocky and soft-sediment communities on or near the ocean floor. The maximum confirmed depth of dive was 97 m (Newby 1975); however recent studies using time-depth recorders implanted in Sea Otters indicate average maximum forage depths of 54 m for female and 82m for male Sea Otters (Bodkin et al. 2004).

Sea Otters are weakly territorial (Kenyon 1969) with fighting and aggression rare (Loughlin 1980). Only adult male Sea Otters establish territories. Males patrol territorial boundaries and attempt to exclude other adult males from the area. Females move freely between and among male territories. Groups of male and female Sea Otters generally rest separately. Sea Otter annual home ranges can occupy up to 0.8 km² (80 ha) and extend along 16 km of coastline (Kenyon 1969, Loughlin 1980). Typically, female Sea Otter home ranges are about 1.5–2 times larger than resident adult males during the breeding season; however, females have smaller annual or lifetime home ranges than males (Riedman and Estes 1990). Jameson (1989) found that territorial adult males occupied a mean home range of 40.3 ha during the summer-fall period (when home range size was considered equal to territory size); and mean coastline length was 1.1 km. Winter-spring mean home range size of territorial adult males that remained in female areas was 78.0 ha, with a mean coastline length of 2.16 km.

The diet of Sea Otter consists almost exclusively of marine invertebrates, including sea urchins, a variety of bivalves such as clams and mussels, abalone, other molluscs, crustaceans, and snails. Its prey ranges in size from tiny limpets crabs and giant octopuses (Estes 1980). Sea urchins, abalones and rock crabs are the principal prey of Sea Otters in newly reoccupied habitats of central California (Vandevere, 1969) whereas clams and crab will make up the diet in soft-sediment habitats (Kvitek et al. 1992, Doroff and DeGange 1994). Where prey such as sea urchins, clams, and abalone are present in a range of sizes, Sea Otters tend to select larger items over smaller ones of similar type (Kvitek et al. 1992). In California, it has been noted that Sea Otters ignore Pismo clams smaller than 3 inches (7 cm) across. Only in the Aleutian archipelago were Sea Otters observed to regularly eat fish, which could comprise up to 50% of their diet. The fish species eaten were usually bottom dwelling and sedentary or sluggish forms, such as the Red Irish Lord and Globefish (Estes 1980). They also consume crab, clam, mussels, turban snails, sea cucumbers, squid, octopus, chitons, tubeworms, large barnacles, scallops, and sea stars (Wild and Ames 1974, Riedman and Estes 1990). Bivalve molluscs are excavated by digging in sand or mud bottoms and are the most common prey in soft-sediment communities (Calkins 1978, Kvitek et al. 1992, Doroff and DeGange 1994).

Male Sea Otters reach sexual maturity around age five or six, but probably do not become territorial or reproductively successful for two or three subsequent years (Riedman and Estes 1990). Most female Sea Otters are sexually mature at age four or five (Kenyon 1969, Jameson and Johnson 1993, Monson et al. 2000, Monson and DeGange 1995, von Biela 2007). Sea Otters apparently are polygynous, although the exact nature of the mating system may vary. Females normally give birth to a single pup that weighs 1.4 to 2.3 kg at birth (Riedman and Estes 1990). Twinning has been documented in Sea Otters (Williams et al. 1980); however, litters larger than one are rare, and when they occur, neither pup is likely to survive (Jameson and Bodkin 1986). Pups remain dependent upon their mothers for about six months (Jameson and Johnson 1993). Longevity in Sea Otters is estimated to be 15 to 20 years for females and 10 to 15 years for males (Riedman and Estes 1990).

Enhydra lutris nereis is listed on CITES Appendix I. All other populations are included in CITES Appendix II. In Canada, Sea Otters are protected and managed under the Species at Risk Act. In the United States, Sea Otters are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA) and in Southwest Alaska and California, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). The US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is the federal agency responsible for their conservation and management. The ESA also makes it illegal to buy, sell or possess any part of endangered species or items made from them. However, both the ESA and the Act allow for coastal Native people in Alaska to harvest Sea Otters for personal use, trade, barter, and the development of cottage industry. Native subsistence harvest of Sea Otters is monitored by the Service through a Marking, Tagging and Reporting program. The Service and Native organizations conduct joint population surveys and dialog on important conservations issues. The MMPA also mandates that efforts must be made to recover the species, which means creating and implementing a plan for returning them to healthy population levels. 

Despite protection and various conservation measures, the southern Sea Otter population has been slow to recover.  In 1994, the Service developed a Conservation Plan for northern Sea Otters in Alaska with the aim of managing human activities that hinder Sea Otter population recovery or sustainability.  When a significant portion of the species range is stable and healthy, this will facilitate removing the species from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Many of the conservation actions in the 1994 Plan have been completed, however, the population declines in the Aleutian Islands were unanticipated and new health risks are being identified that may limit population recovery. There have been several successful reintroduction attempts along the west coast of North America, restoring this highly appealing animal to much of its former range.