PORT ANGELES — A recent spike in dead sea otter sightings has caught the attention of wildlife officials, but they say that the 12 sightings on the Washington coast in the past month could simply be the result of more witnesses.
Scores of volunteers have been combing the beaches to find sick or dead sea birds affected by a brown algae bloom that caused the death of hundreds of scoters in mid-September.
Scientists believe a soap-like substance from the algae stripped the birds’ feathers of a protective oil that makes them water repellent, causing them to die of hypothermia.
Deanna Lynch, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, said there is no proof that the sea otter strandings have anything to do with the algae bloom.
‘Pretty average thing’
“It may be that we have a pretty average thing going on,” she said.
Mary Sue Brancato, a resource protection officer at Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, said sea otter mortalities are up this year. She added: “It could be because we have more people on the beach that could observe it.”
The dead sea otters have washed up along a wide stretch of coast between Ocean Shores and Cape Alava, Lynch said.
“We seem to have had a bit of a potential spike within the last four weeks or so,” Lynch said.
“It could be related to the fact that there are more people on coast.”
The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary had 50 volunteers on the beaches between Kalaloch and Neah Bay last month, looking for birds.
Increase in hikers
“As a person that hikes that coast a number of times a year, I will tell you that the number of people on the coast right now is at its peak,” said Doug Zimmer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman.
“If you went out in February or March, you could go days without seeing another person.”
Sea otter strandings occur on the Washington coast year-round, Lynch said.
“There really isn’t a trend, as far we can tell,” Lynch said.
In the late summer and early fall, mothers leave their sea otter pups to fend for themselves.
Ten of the 12 sea otters deaths involved juveniles or pups.
“It’s not uncommon for pups or juveniles to die when winter storms occur and they get separated from their moms,” Brancato said last week.
The cause of death in two of the sea otter cases has been determined, Lynch said. One suffered traumatic internal injuries, suggesting that it may have been hit by a boat, and another died of natural causes.
More testing is needed to determine the cause of death in the other sea otters. The results of those necropsies will likely be available in about a month, Lynch said.
“We’re still in the process of getting information back,” she said.
Sea otters have no blubber but have extremely thick fur — about a million hairs per square inch. This fur keeps them warm, but makes them susceptible to oil spills.
After they were hunted to extinction in 1912, the species was reintroduced to the lower 48 states in the 1960s. They were brought in from Alaska.
There are now about 1,100 sea otters off the coast of Washington.
Furs from sea otters were traded with China for silver in the early days, Zimmer said.
While they generally prefer the Pacific Ocean, sea otters are known to venture into the Strait of Juan de Fuca as far east as Port Townsend, Lynch said.
In rare cases, they swim into the Puget Sound.
Ever-popular with humans, sea otters are seen as photogenic and cuddly creatures.
“They are very appealing,” Lynch said.
“We often joke in wildlife circles that sea otters are way high on the cuddly list,” Zimmer added.
But sea otters aren’t as cute as they appear.
They crush shells with their sharp teeth, and can transmit diseases to humans.
“This is a very large, powerful animal,” said Zimmer, who recently handled a sea otter that weighed 92 pounds.
Wildlife officials say sea otters are best observed from a safe distance. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act forbids people from harassing them.
“I would never want a human to get anywhere near a wild sea otter,” Lynch said.
Anyone who sees a sea otter is asked to phone Fish and Wildlife’s sea otter’s hotline and leave a message.
The number is 1-877-326-8837 or 1-87-SEA-OTTER.
“We will follow up on it,” Lynch said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
