island, by late July, 14 had been sighted back in the existing 

 California sea otter range, one was captured in the "no-otter" 

 Management Zone and returned to the existing range along the 

 central coast, five (3 males and 2 females) were known to be 

 dead, three were suspected to have been caught and killed in 

 fishing gear, and the remaining 26 were unaccounted for. 



Containment : From September 1987 through July 1988, 

 there were 37 reports and 15 verified sightings of sea otters 

 within the designated Management Zone. As noted above, a female 

 and her newborn pup were captured and returned to the site where 

 she was originally captured. The remaining otters sighted in the 

 Management Zone left the area before they could be captured. 

 Given the number of translocated otters that subsequently were 

 resighted back in the existing sea otter range, it is possible 

 that many or most of the sea otters sighted in the Management 

 Zone ultimately returned to the existing range. 



Monthly aerial surveys carried out by the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service have found no sea otters resident in areas around any 

 of the offshore islands, other than San Nicolas Island, or 

 along the mainland south of Point Concepcion. The only location 

 of repeated sea otter sightings has been near Point Concepcion, 

 the northern boundary of the Management Zone. A group of two 

 to four otters has been routinely seen in this area since at 

 least 1982 and these individuals may frequently move into and 

 out of the Management Zone. 



Modification of the Translocation Plan : The Translocation 

 Plan adopted by the Fish and Wildlife Service in August 1987 

 authorized the Service to translocate up to 70 otters a year, 

 but totaling no more 250 in a five-year period, and required, 

 among other things, that: up to 2 of the otters translocated 

 each year were to be adults; captures could be conducted only 

 from August through mid-October when weather conditions 

 generally are good; a minimum of 20 otters must be translocated 

 at a time; and, once at San Nicolas Island, the otters must 

 be transferred to a stationary floating pen and held for up 

 to five days before release. 



Experience gathered from August 1987 through July 1988 

 indicated that some of these provisions were hindering, rather 

 than helping, the translocation effort. Therefore, by Federal 

 Register notice of 19 August 1988, the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service proposed revising the regulations implementing the 

 Translocation Plan to: provide more flexibility in selecting 

 the ages of otters for translocation; eliminate the requirement 

 to capture otters only within the August to mid-October 

 timeframe; provide flexibility to either transport captured 

 otters immediately or hold them on the mainland before transport 

 to San Nicolas Island; and eliminate the requirement to 



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