Judging by its cute critter component alone, I predict the
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s
”
Wild About Otters
”
attraction is going to be a great big hit. Even more
importantly, it will teach aquarium visitors about the delicate
balance between nature and human activity.
Judging by its cute critter component alone, I predict the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Wild About Otters” attraction is going to be a great big hit. Even more importantly, it will teach aquarium visitors about the delicate balance between nature and human activity.
The new exhibit officially opens on Saturday, March 31. A couple of weekends ago, I attended a press preview allowing me to get up close to these clowns of the kelp beds. It was hypnotizing to watch these agile rascals somersault in the pools behind large panes of glass. I couldn’t help but think, however, that their delightful water acrobatics hid the sad fact these critters have been severely endangered by human exploitation of the oceans over the last 250 or so years.
One thing the exhibit does not touch on is the importance of the sea otter to the European colonization of California. It all started with a fashion fad in Europe and China during the 1600s and 1700s. During these centuries, the aristocratic class believed sable and otter fur were the hippest way to dress themselves up.
As the fur fashion craze grew, Russia came to control much of the trade. That northern nation’s government sent Vitus Bering and Alexi Chirikov, two Russian Navy officers, on a mission to map the Arctic waters around Alaska in search of new regions to hunt otters. Bering’s ship became marooned on an island (now known as Bering Island) where he died of scurvy. The crew members who survived spent the winter of 1741 hunting sea otters and later returned home with 900 pelts which sold for an astronomical sum to eager buyers.
The Bering expedition ignited a great hunt for sea otters. Many Russian ships sailed the northern Pacific waters and started to explore farther and farther south in search of more hunting grounds.
The expansion of the Russian fur-trapping fleet in the Pacific worried the Spanish Crown. Spain’s government soon realized it would only be a short time before the Russians saw that the unprotected territory in Alta California had an abundant supply of otters.
Spain’s fear of losing control of California spurred its development of military presidios in San Diego and Monterey. Spain’s government also decided to construct a network of missions along the coastal region. Indian inhabitants were rounded up from their villages, brought to the mission and converted to the Christian faith. They’d become Spanish citizens, thus giving Spain a stronger claim to California. The Spanish missions – including the South Valley’s own Mission San Juan Bautista – got their start in part because of international politics involved in the hunting of sea otters.
The “harvest” of sea otters lasted many decades, but over time the animals became almost completely wiped out. The Russians hunters decimated so many otters from Alaskan waters that by 1867, Russia sold this far northern territory to the United States because it was no longer profitable for furs.
American trappers also slaughtered sea otters for their pelts. The situation became so bad for these animals that in 1911 an international treaty was signed to end the hunt. It’s estimated that less than 2,000 sea otters were left in the wild at this point. Marine biologists predicted that the ocean-loving creatures would soon become extinct.
Somehow, the animals hung on. In 1938, a group of 20 or so sea otters were found living off the Big Sur coastal region just south of Carmel. This small group would help restore the otter population along coastal California.
Today, California waters hold about 2,100 sea otters. Their population reached a peak of 2,400 in 1995, but has started a dangerous decline over the last decade. Most of our state’s otters are found living in or near the Monterey Bay. Arctic waters have also seen a replenishment of sea otter population with an estimated 168,000 otters living along Russian and Alaskan coastlines.
Despite their amazing comeback after hunting was banned, sea otters are not completely safe in the wild. Crude oil spills are a particularly threatening crisis for these animals. The petroleum soaks into their fine fur and eliminates the air pockets that sustain their body temperature. This can result in hypothermia which will kill the animals. In 1989 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, an estimated 5,000 sea otters were killed because of the resulting spill of 260,000 barrels of crude covering more than a thousand miles of pristine Alaskan coastline.
Sea otters are important as an “indicator species,” because their success living in an environment helps scientists determine the health of an ecological system. They are also a textbook example of a “keystone carnivore” because they play an important role in dramatically maintaining the structure and complexity of their ecological home. One way they do this is by keeping in check the growth of kelp forests in a coastal region by grazing on this marine vegetation.
As they did in the 1700s, sea otters still play an important role in the politics of California. As a beloved icon of the Golden State, their endangered species status has encouraged citizens to enact ecosystem-wide protection to make sure these animals have a chance at future survival. Legislators have enacted several laws to protect sea otters such as limiting offshore oil drilling, moving large ocean vessel traffic farther from the shore, and creating protected regions such as the famous Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. These political actions also help protect other marine species.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has also promoted the protection of otters. You’ll learn much more about sea otters and their vital role in our environment at its new Wild About Otters exhibit. It’s well worth a visit – especially if you have kids who are into cute and cuddly critters. You’ll not only go wild over the clownish antics of these playful animals, you’ll also gain a greater appreciation for the delicate and diverse marine environment located not far from our home here in the South Valley.
