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Otter population falls as humans pollute ocean

Posted by: Maven on July 2, 2009 at 7:24 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Sea otters along the California coast are dying off faster than at any time since the late 1990s, a disturbing trend that experts say is partially due to human-caused water pollution, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Tuesday.

A spring census of the threatened otters found only 2,654 otters along 375 miles of coast, a 3.8 percent drop from the year before.

“We know the problem is not one of reduced reproduction. It’s one of elevated mortality,” said Tim Tinker, a wildlife biologist at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center at the UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab. Lab tests show the otters are primarily dying from disease carried by bacteria, viruses and parasites. Those organisms are found in sewage as well as urban and farm runoff that contaminates creeks and coastal waters, researchers have found.

And although the animals don’t seem to be suffering from lack of food due to fluctuating ocean conditions, researchers say their nutrition is limited when they can’t get their fill of their preferred prey – crabs, urchins, clams, abalone and mussels.

Pollution and overfishing reduce the food supply, as does heavy feeding in popular spots by the otters themselves. When the otters aren’t able to get the proper food, they are less likely to successfully fight disease, scientists say.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Oceans & Beaches

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