THE SEA OTTER IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN 129 



ment nor time to gather it. This same thing is reported to have happened 

 in the Sandman Reefs and Sanak Reefs when the sea otters reappeared in 

 numbers. 



John Nevzoroff, a native of the Aleutian Islands who worked 

 with me on Amchitka in 1962, told me that in the early 1930's, 

 when he trapped foxes on Amchitka with his father, sea otters 

 were considerably less numerous, particularly along the Bering 

 Sea coast, than they are today. He also said that he found large 

 sea urchins ("sea eggs") abundant along the shores of Constantine 

 Harbor where we were unable to find them in the 1955-63 study 

 period. 



Tons of fragments of large sea urchin tests are contained in 

 kitchen middens at Amchitka Island. These indicate that in pre- 

 historic times large sea urchins were abundant there. Presumably 

 the aboriginal human population was able to obtain these large 

 sea urchins because the sea otter population had been utilized and 

 reduced. Thus, the sea urchin resource was not overexploited by 

 the otters as it is today, and the urchins were allowed to grow to 

 maximum size. 



It is evident that at Amchitka, where mature sea urchins are 

 scarce, the diet of the sea otter must be supplemented by other 

 foods, such as fish and mollusks, to prevent starvation. That 

 starvation does, in fact, occur in winter and early spring, partic- 

 ularly among young otters, is discussed in the section on Limiting 

 Factors. 



THE ABALONE-SEA OTTER PROBLEM 

 IN CALIFORNIA 



J. H. McLean writes (letter, December 1964) : 



20 miles of coastline below San Simeon which formerly produced abalone year 

 after year under continuous commercial exploitation has been completely 

 ruined for abalone as a result of the southern migration of the California 

 herds. It has nothing to do with the number of divers now working because 

 the otters take the entire population, not just those of legal size. The fact 

 is that otters, urchins and abalones do not coexist and the entire commercial 

 abalone fishery is very seriously threatened by possible southern expansion 

 of range. 



Cox (1962), who has conducted comprehensive studies of the 

 abalone (Haliotis) along the California coast, says (p. 57) ''all 

 evidence indicates they [sea otters] pose a threat to human ex- 

 ploitation [of the abalone] when the two are competing in the 

 same area." Data gathered in Carmel Cove and Stillwater Cove 

 before and after the areas were occupied by sea otters demon- 



