been brought in Federal court. On 11 September, plaintiffs 

 filed an amended complaint in the Federal District Court 

 adding allegations of violations of the National Environ- 

 mental Policy Act and Public Law 99-625. The Court denied 

 the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction on 29 

 September, ruling that the plaintiff was unlikely to succeed 

 on the merits of its claims. Both the Federal and State 

 defendants filed dispositive motions on 28 December 1987. 

 California moved to have the claims against it dismissed on 

 the basis of the Eleventh Amendment, which gives states immunity 

 from suits in Federal court. Federal defendants filed a 

 motion for summary judgment, seeking to have the case decided 

 on the merits. 



A hearing on the matter was held on 7 March 1988. On 

 4 April 1988, the Court issued an order granting summary 

 judgment for the Federal defendants and an order dismissing 

 the suit against the State. In upholding the legality of the 

 sea otter translocation, the Court found that the translocation 

 plan, the final rule implementing the plan, and the actions 

 undertaken by the Fish and Wildlife Service to translocate 

 sea otters were in compliance with the requirements of Public 

 Law 99-625. The Court also ruled that the Final Environmental 

 Impact Statement was in compliance with the National Environ- 

 mental Policy Act and that it adequately evaluated the extent 

 of marine resources around San Nicolas Island, the potential 

 impact of translocated sea otters on those resources, measures 

 designed to mitigate the impacts of translocated sea otters, 

 and public comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. 

 The claims against the State of California were dismissed 

 because the Eleventh Amendment bars the Court from granting 

 the relief sought by plaintiffs against the State defendants. 



Summary of 1987 and 1988 Translocation Activities 



Capture of sea otters for translocation to San Nicolas 

 Island was initiated on 24 August 1987 by teams of biologists 

 from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game. By mid-July 1988, a total of 124 sea 

 otters had been caught along the central California coast. 

 Seventy-four of these otters were judged to be healthy and of 

 the right age for translocation and were transported by van 

 to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, tagged, screened for possible 

 health abnormalities, and prepared for shipment to San Nicolas 

 Island. Four otters died while at the Aquarium and a fifth 

 was returned to its original capture site and released. The 

 remaining 69 sea otters (16 males and 53 females) were flown 

 to San Nicolas Island in 13 groups of 1-24 animals. 



By late July 1988, approximately 20 of the 69 otters 

 taken to San Nicolas Island were routinely being seen in the 

 vicinity of the island. Of the remaining otters taken to the 



36 



