SEA OTTERS Life and Death Major Objectives Sea

SEA OTTERS Life and Death

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

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

Humans like sea otters

In the beginning…

A simple and complex life Ø Food, shelter, breed, avoid being eaten

Sea otters eat a lot of meat

Work of a keystone predator

Keystone predator in action

Otters love urchins Ø There are kelp forests because there are otters

Kelp forest stability Ø Human hunting changes the kelp forest structure

The first otter kill Ø 8 -9000 ya, otters become an easy target

Russians get lost in Alaska Ø Russians discover Alaskan wildlife in 1741

Sea cow is easy meat Ø Last few thousand steller’s sea cows on the planet have a hard time of it

Sea otter genocide Ø Otters previously only hunted for warmth and food

The massacre continues Ø Demand for otter fur grows throughout the world

The process of skinning The fleshy pieces still attached to the fur are scraped off delicately so as not to cut into the fur

What the otters used fur for… Ø Otters can spend 50% of daylight hours cleaning their fur

A daily life of peril Otters can die from the cold

The last of the otters Ø 150 years after excessive hunting, people realize a mistake has been made

Otters repopulate the world Ø Miraculously, otter population has not been too far reduced for regrowth

Otter death still occurs Ø Aleutians demand cultural hunting rights back

Ignorant violence Ø Californians deliberately murder protected sea otters

Otters are loved Ø Despite rare deaths, otters now cherished in many parts of the world

A new threat emerges Ø In 1991, first killer whale attack on Alaskan otter is witnessed

Otter killer Ø 3 killer whales, 3 -6 otters a day, ten years

Whale killer Ø The reasons why

Red for murder

Solutions to the problem Ø No solution except the impossible

Cetacean populations

A great fall Ø Whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters

The threat of extinction Ø Can the sea otter still go extinct?

A sign of things to come Ø Ripple effects

Rise and fall Ø The sea otter’s life history has been shaped by human greed

Sea otter today Ø A different relationship currently exists