404 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1958 
mates, based on sample field counts, place the population there at 
between 4,000 and 6,000. 
The first stage of the work on the sea otter was done in the late 
1940’s by Robert D. Jones, manager of the Aleutian Wildlife Refuge. 
He found that the otters were very difficult to keep in captivity, and 
as a result of his recommendations, Dr. Donald Stulken and Dr. C. M. 
Kirkpatrick, both of Purdue University, went to Amchitka with a 
Fish and Wildlife team to study the physiology of sea otters and 
their response to conditions in captivity. Meanwhile Dr. Robert 
Rausch, parasitologist, of the Arctic Health Research Centre, con- 
ducted studies of animals found dead on the beaches during winter 
“die offs.” As a result of all this work considerable knowledge was 
accumulated, and three captive otters were finally brought to Seattle 
by Mr. Jones in 1954. They were in excellent condition upon arrival 
but unfortunately succumbed when transferred to the National Zoo- 
logical Park in Washington, D.C. 
In 1955 a Fish and Wildlife team, including the author and under 
the leadership of Ford Wilke, captured sea otters at Amchitka and 
liberated 16 of them at Otter Island in the Pribilofs. Unexpectedly 
frigid weather conditions, with ice floes, complicated by the weakened 
condition of the captive animals, probably prevented their survival. 
Work on Amchitka continues. During World War IT the island 
had been used as a harbor and air base and it offers today disintegrat- 
ing but usable facilities for our field studies. From the front porch 
of our salvaged quarters on clear days we watch the sea otters as they 
dive for food near the mouth of Constantine Harbor or haul out to 
sleep and preen on the small rocky islets there. But often, during 
summer months especially, this place of observation becomes useless. 
Fog banks move in about the island and remain for weeks at a stretch. 
In order to observe the otters closely it has been necessary to construct 
a hide on a cliff above a favorite feeding and resting area. From this 
vantage point, with binoculars and telescope, we may watch the otters 
on all but the foggiest of days. 
In addition to studies on Amchitka a comprehensive aerial popu- 
lation survey in Alaska was undertaken by the Fish and Wildlife 
Service in the fall of 1957. Unfortunately, remote areas in the 
Aleutians, where a considerable part of the sea otter population ap- 
pears to exist, could not be covered because of adverse weather. How- 
ever, Dr. Calvin J. Lensink, who took a leading part in this project 
under the Branch of Wildlife Research, prepared total sea otter 
population estimates which indicate that sea otters have now re- 
populated a large part of their former range and that their numbers 
are increasing and spreading at an encouraging rate. Certainly 
the number in Alaskan waters can be placed conservatively at 80,000 
animals. Dr. Lensink plans to publish a detailed report of his work. 
