Sea Otters: The Past And The Future

Sea Otters:
The Past and the Future

Author: Veronica Graham
Teacher: Trevor Kuypers
Course: Biology, SBI4U-TK
Date: January 16, 2014
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As one of Canada’s most endangered species, the sea otter is in need of public support to aide the government in continuing their efforts of preserving this species in Canada. From the time the vikings first set foot in Canada, the sea otter has had a drastic role in the settling and survival of the European soldiers. Through out the years, it has come to be seen as one of Canada’s most identifiable creatures.

Before fur trade became the norm in Canada, the sea otter was found in abundance on the coast
In 1981, this release site in British Columbia was was converted into an ecological reserve, forbidding any human interference in the area and establishing a harvesting closure on many key prey of the sea otter. Thanks to these efforts, the Canadian population of the sea otter now numbers around three thousand(Sea Otters, 2013). Their population continues to grow by seventeen to twenty percent each year. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has allocated the sea otter endangered status and it now has legal protection under the Canada Fisheries Act. In British Columbia, it has been placed on the Red List, being legally given status under the Wildlife Act as an endangered
Without the sea otters, the sea-urchins, abalones, and crabs (Riedman & Estes, 1990) that the otter would prey on, consumed entire underwater kelp forests [Basic Facts about Sea Otters, 2013] which had a disastrous effect on other animals who also ate kelp or who used the underwater algae as cover. Also, with no more kelp, the species would begin to grow smaller and smaller, leaving sea otters and other animals, such as bald eagles, to die of starvation or change their diet(Anthony, Estes, Ricca, Miles, & Forsman, 2008).

Sea otters are also known as an “indicator species”. An indicator species is one that scientists observe to get an overall indicator as to the condition of the ecosystem within which the species lives. In 1995, sea otters were being infected by a disease related to their prey. Scientists knew that they now had to closely monitor the sea otters, the animals they were eating, and the humans who ate the same foods. If the sea otters were dying from a sickness related to what they were eating, and humans were eating many of the same things, there was a great risk to humans.

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