California Sea Otter population declines for third year, report shows
Jory John
San Jose Mercury News
03/30/2010
MOSS LANDING - The fragile California Sea Otter population is in decline for the third straight year, according to a comprehensive year-end report issued Monday by The Otter Project, a Monterey-based organization whose mission is to aid the rapid recovery of the animal.
The report is based on surveys conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in coordination with other organizations, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It took into consideration otters found onshore, the age of the dead otters, their genders and where in the ocean they were discovered.
The third year in a population study is significant, according to the report, because it is the third-year average number that helps decide an animal's status under the Endangered Species Act. The otter, which saw a 12 percent increase from 2006 to 2007, is currently listed as threatened.
Allison Ford, executive director of The Otter Project, said the data is cause for concern.
"Otters are the endangered species success story that's not quite successful," she said. "Its population is hovering in the decline and it's still considered a threatened species."
Ford said that while she was hopeful the results would be more positive, she wasn't surprised by the data. She said the decline is due to a number of conditions, including chemicals being put in the ocean.
There are things that could be done on a day-to-day level to decrease the amount of pollution the otters are facing, Ford said. Over fertilizing lawns is adding to chemical runoff in the ocean, and with a more mindful approach to gardening on a local scale, conditions could improve, she added.
"In particular, we tend to look at sea otters in terms of water quality," she said. "Otters really are the 'marine canary of the coal mine' and they can tell us all sorts of things that are happening in the water. There are a lot of things that we should be paying attention to that we're not."
Steve Shimek, director of Monterey Coast Keeper, said that disease is also a factor in the otter population decline.
"We have diseases that are washing into the ocean from land and becoming more prevalent," he said. "There are more diseases now because we are discharging so much stuff into the ocean. We're also discharging chemicals known to be immune suppressants."
Shimek, who founded of The Otter Project in 1998, said the population report is troubling.
"What is giant news is the fact that it's been going down three years in a row and it looks to us like it's not going to turn around," he said. "The otter population is incredibly fragile. Every year, it's right on that edge of growing slightly or declining slightly."
Dennis Carvalho, an employee at Kirk's Antiques in the Moss Landing Harbor District, said he's seen fewer otters in the area lately. Carvalho is often asked by tourists where to find the otters, he said.
"It seems like there aren't as many as there used to be," Carvalho said. "I just thought it might be due to weather conditions."
For George Lyons, 11, vacationing with his family in Moss Landing, hearing about the decrease in sea otters was concerning.
