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March 3, 2002 Sea Otter Found DeadShotIn Santa Barbara On Saturday February 23, 2002, a sea otter was found dead on Hendrys Beach, just west of Santa Barbara. Examination by the California Department of Fish and Game revealed the male otter, approximately 60-pounds, had been shot in the head. The gunshot was the cause of death. "The California sea otter population has declined for five of the past six years. Every otter counts," said Steve Shimek, Executive Director of The Otter Project. The most recent census of California sea otters conducted by the Biological Resources Division of the USGS found just 2,161 otters in the coastal waters from Half Moon Bay to Santa Barbara. Currently, there are approximately the same numbers of sea otters as there were in 1993. Listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, shooting a sea otter is a federal crime. Only five otters were found during The Otter Projects most recent, January 12, survey of the coast between Santa Barbara and Point Conception. "Now there is one less," said Shimek. "Every sea otter death is a great concern to us," said Ken McDermond, Deputy Manager of the US Fish & Wildlife Services California/Nevada office. "We are encouraging anyone with information on this incident to contact us immediately." Although their numbers are declining, sea otters have been trying to stage a comeback to Santa Barbara County waters in recent years, a small part of their historic range. "Sea otters have been absent from Santa Barbara since their near extinction in the early 1800s; we should be celebrating their return," said Shimek. Of the dead otters studied, shooting deaths account for four to five percent of sea otter mortality, according to statistics gathered by the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and the California Department of Fish and Game, the state and federal labs responsible for gathering information about mortality of threatened and endangered wildlife. In 2000, two shooting deaths were recorded, in 2001, none. Shimek notes, "Shooting is rare, but its one of the few mortality factors we have some control over; we need every otter." Fishers have been upset in recent years over the otters range expansion into their fishing grounds. In a June 23, 2001 Los Angeles Times article a fishing industry representative stated that environmentalists should focus less effort on sea otter shootings and more of their efforts on disease research. In the past year, The Otter Project has provided over $200,000 for studies of disease, malicious acts of vandalism, and chemical contaminants. The Otter Project is a nonprofit organization, based in Marina, California, that funds critical research and recovery efforts for the California sea otter. Anyone with information on this shooting incident should call Greg Sanders, sea otter coordinator with US Fish & Wildlife Service at 805-644-1766 or write to him at 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003. # # # For more information, contact: |
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