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NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 68 



however, the two slept in close proximity and when alarmed by a 

 human visitor or unexpected noise they clasped each other with 

 their forelegs. 



An adult female and two juveniles of about the same size were 

 netted together on a beach at Amchitka Island on 2 April 1955. 

 The adult showed maternal attention to one pup and tolerated 

 the other, allowing both to nurse. The adult, however, groomed 

 only one juvenile and my conclusion was that the other was a 

 stray or an orphan that had joined company with the mother and 

 pup. Additional evidence that this may have been the situation 

 was observed on 9 April. The pup presumed to be the mother's 

 offspring died shortly before this group of sea otters was to be 

 liberated at the Pribilof Islands. The surviving juvenile and the 

 adult female were liberated together. In the water, the juvenile 

 attempted to climb onto the adult but she ignored it and swam 

 quickly away. We then retrieved the screaming juvenile. 



The above observations indicate to me that under certain con- 

 ditions a tolerant adult otter might contribute to the survival of 

 an orphaned juvenile. It appears, however, that under conditions 

 of stress and during times of food shortage an adult might give 

 little more than companionship toward the survival of an "adopted" 

 juvenile. 



Relation to Other Animals 



Within its usual habitat, which includes the beach, offshore 

 rocks, and water out to a depth of about 30 fathoms (60 m.), the 

 sea otter is often near other mammals and birds. Two species, the 

 Bald Eagle and killer whale, are discussed under "Predation." 



Harbor seals and sea otters often haul out on the same rocks 

 and rest or sleep near each other. Each species appears to ignore 

 the other; no interspecific strife of any kind was ever seen. In 

 general, harbor seals and sea otters appear to prefer slightly 

 different resting places. At St. Makarius Point on Amchitka 

 several large rocks are located a few meters offshore. Some of 

 these were habitually used by sea otters and others by harbor 

 seals. If a sea otter found a harbor seal on a favorite resting spot, 

 it selected another place. On several occasions a harbor seal was 

 seen to cause a sea otter to move. When the moving seal jostled 

 the sea otter in attempting to pass, the otter got up and moved. 



Interspecific competition for food is probably negligible. The 

 harbor seals at Amchitka feed primarily on octopus and Atka 

 mackerel (Kenyon, 1965a). Both of these species may be taken 



