THE SEA OTTER IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN 



67 



shallower water was only a few miles distant. Also, the obser- 

 vations were in areas where strong tidal currents are prevalent. 

 These could quickly move an otter sleeping on the surface several 

 miles from a feeding area. 



The observation of two otters 32 miles west of Kiska in the 

 55-mile wide pass between Buldir and Kiska Islands on 27 May 

 1959 (A. C. Hartt, letter, 1960) is of particular interest. Their 

 presence there may be explained by the fact that they were near 

 an underwater mountain ridge, Buldir Reef, which is about 20 

 nautical miles long and over a mile wide, and which offers con- 

 siderable area having depths of from 17 to 30 fathoms. 



The only available authentic record of an otter far from shore 

 and away from passes between islands was recorded by G. T. Joynt 

 (letter, 1957). While flying as a naval aviator in the Aleutians in 

 the spring of 1943, Joynt saw an otter — 



a little over 50 miles due south of East Cape on Amchitka Island. On this 

 particular day the open ocean was as smooth as a mill pond . . . This animal 

 was observed at very close quarters and identity was certain because of the 

 rarity of anything on the surface making a wake so far from land. I have 

 often conjectured that this particular animal could have been a victim of an 

 unintentional ride in a large free-floating kelp raft. Whenever sea otter 

 were observed more than a half-mile from the nearest kelp patch it was 

 usually a single animal and they were most frequently in the straits between 

 two of the larger islands. On these occasions they were usually headed to 

 one island or the other and not aimlessly swimming about. 



Joynt was a trained biologist before becoming a naval aviator 

 and gathered much useful information about sea otters in the 

 Aleutians. 



The large amount of time spent by the several observers (table 

 10) in offshore areas and the dearth of observations of sea otters 

 at an appreciable distance from depths of 20 to 30 fathoms, 

 demonstrate the tendency of otters to remain in shallow water. 



On 10 July 1960, an adult female sea otter (KWK 60-19) was 

 shot 9 nautical miles north of the Alaska Peninsula (55°20' N. lat., 

 163°11' W. long.) in water 20 fathoms (120 ft.) deep. The stomach 

 contents (see Food and Feeding Behavior) consisted of benthic 

 organisms. During aerial surveys of the area off the north coast 

 of Unimak Island and south of Amak Island on 8 April 1962, the 

 majority of 811 otters recorded were seen between 3 and 10 miles 

 from shore in water from 10 to 25 fathoms deep. The majority 

 were near or inside the 20-fathom curve. The 20-fathom curve 

 where this large number of otters were seen ranged from 5 to 8 

 miles from the north shore of Unimak Island. I presumed that 



