MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
sion noted that the draft revision appeared to be 
proposing or recommending, but did not explain the 
rationale for, repeal of Public Law 99-625 and the 
related regulations and agreements that allowed 
establishment of the reserve breeding colony at San 
Nicolas Island, as well as maintenance of the southern 
boundary of the sea otter population at Point Concep- 
tion to prevent adverse effects on shellfish and other 
fisheries in the Channel Islands and the California 
Bight. 
In light of these uncertainties, the Commission 
recommended that a second draft of the proposed 
Recovery Plan revision be done and be provided to 
the Commission and others for review and comment 
before it is considered for adoption by the Service. 
The Commission received no response to its 8 
November 1991 letter or to the recommendation it 
contained. Therefore on 11 May 1992 the Commis- 
sion again wrote to the Service, noting that, since it 
had not been advised otherwise, the Commission 
assumed that the Service was preparing a second draft 
of the proposed Recovery Plan revision, as recom- 
mended. In its letter, the Commission requested that, 
if this was not the case, the Service immediately 
advise the Commission, as required by section 202(d) 
of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, as to why the 
Service had not followed the recommendation. 
On 8 July 1992 the Service advised the Commis- 
sion that it had decided not to prepare a second draft 
for further agency and public review. The Service 
noted that comments on the first draft had identified 
a number of things that were not clear or adequately 
justified and that the principal problem had been 
caused by the Recovery Team’s attempt to combine 
the recovery goals of the Endangered Species Act and 
the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Service 
indicated that the Recovery Team had reviewed the 
comments on the draft Recovery Plan revision and 
had proposed to redirect the focus of the revision 
specifically on actions needed to remove the popula- 
tion from the List of Endangered and Threatened 
Species. 
At the end of 1992 the Fish and Wildlife Service 
had not yet completed the recovery plan revision. 
22 
Oil Spill — On 3 August 1992 a 12-inch pipeline, 
located on a bluff above Avila Beach, in San Luis 
Obispo County, California, ruptured, spilling approxi- 
mately 125 barrels of crude oil into the ocean near the 
southern end of the current sea otter range. Approxi- 
mately 50 sea otters were observed in the area at the 
time of the spill, and three animals were subsequently 
found dead. Necropsies carried out by the Fish and 
Wildlife Service indicated that two of the animals 
were killed directly by the spill and that oil may have 
contributed to the death of the third animal. Two 
other oiled sea otters were captured alive; one animal 
was examined and released on-site, and the other was 
taken to the Monterey Aquarium where it was 
cleaned, rehabilitated, tagged, and released into 
Monterey Bay. 
The California Oil Spill Prevention and Response 
Office has initiated a study to assess possible impacts 
on other sea otters that might have been affected. As 
part of this study, blood samples were collected from 
17 otters captured in and near the spill area in Octo- 
ber 1992. Analysis of blood samples had not been 
completed as of the end of 1992. The second phase 
of this work will be to capture and take blood samples 
from a comparable number of otters in Monterey Bay. 
This work is a joint effort between the California 
Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and 
Wildlife Service. 
The Alaska Sea Otter Population 
Small groups of sea otters survived the era of 
commercial exploitation in several remote areas of 
Alaska. Since then, sea otters have repopulated most 
of their former range in Alaska although they have not 
yet reached carrying capacity in some areas. No sea 
otters survived in southeast Alaska and repopulation 
of the area was initiated by translocating otters from 
Amchitka Island and Prince William Sound in the late 
1960s and early 1970s. 
The best available data indicate that there are 
100,000 to 150,000 sea otters in Alaska. Although 
the population currently is large and growing, there 
are a number of existing and foreseeable threats and 
conservation issues. These include (1) conflicts with 
commercial, subsistence, and recreational shellfish 
