Slight sea otter population increase on the Central Coast

Ever since the “Big Blue Live” international broadcast, interest in our marine wildlife has spiked. Now, a new study brings us some good news on a fan favorite — sea otters.

“Everyone wants to talk about the crazy stuff they saw on TV,” Chris Blair, manager of Kayak Connection said. “This is one of the best wildlife viewing destinations in the country. We’ve got some of the most southern sea otters on the planet, and people just love to come and talk about it because it’s kind of all the hype right now.”

But southern sea otters have had a tough run in California. Presumed extinct after the fur trade years in the 1800s, a remarkable spotting of about 50 of them in the 1930s off Big Sur brought back hope.

According to the latest census from the U.S. Geological Survey, the otter population between Big Sur and Moss Landing is up about 2 percent.

While the increase in our area is promising, there’s more to the story. As fast as the population is increasing here, it’s decreasing at the same rate north of Moss Landing and south of Big Sur.

“So for the population to recover and grow, we need the animals to increase along the range peripheries, both north and south,” Senior Research Biologist Teri Nicholson said, with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Research & Conservation Program.

Researchers believe the population is up here due to a boom in urchins, a major food resource. And they believe it’s down north and south of us because of shark bites.

“70 percent of the deaths we’re seeing along the northern and southern part of the range are due to shark bites,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson said sharks aren’t preying on the them, but running into them; and one bite can be fatal to an otter.

While this population uptick is promising, researchers say it’s a long road ahead to full recovery.

The entire state’s southern sea otter population needs to grow significantly before they can be taken off the endangered species list.