176 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 68 



within the 20 fathom curve. Lensink (1958) saw no otters in the 

 relatively deep waters off the northeast shore of Sanak and only 

 one was seen there during the 1962 survey. 



Flights over the Sandman Reefs on 10 April 1962 were under- 

 taken when conditions were excellent. We viewed the exposed rocks 

 and islets and examined most of the open water. Otters could be 

 seen on the glassy surface within a track about 21/2 miles wide. 



Because of the irregular bottom topography of this area, it is 

 difficult to measure from charts the amount of available sea otter 

 habitat. The approximate measurements obtained, however, indi- 

 cate that the Sanak Island-Sandman Reefs area may furnish nearly 

 900 square miles of feeding habitat. With about two otters per 

 square mile of habitat this area appears underpopulated. 



Since the surveys of 1957 and 1962 were undertaken under 

 excellent observation conditions, they may be comparable. If the 

 total count in the Sandman Reefs area is projected forward at 

 an increase of 5 percent per year (see Andreanof Islands) the 

 estimated 1962 count would be 637. The aerial count of 1962 was 

 638 otters. The 1957 survey may have missed a number of otters 

 in the Sanak Island area, since Lensink's (1958) figures when 

 projected to 1962 at 5 percent per year fall short of the count 

 obtained in 1962. 



Shumagin Islands 



This group lies 100 miles east of the tip of the Alaska Peninsula 

 and reaches its southern extremity at Chernabura Island about 

 100 miles south of the Peninsula's south shore. 



Sea otters apparently survived the 1741-1911 period of ex- 

 ploitation in the Shumagin area where offshore feeding areas 

 offered them refuge. Japanese poachers worked the area until at 

 least 1910. An estimate of 4,000 otters in the southern Shumagins 

 was made in 1920, but this population was certainly reduced when 

 a tanker and a freighter were wrecked and spilled oil in this area 

 during World War II (Kenyon, 1964). 



A small human population lives at Unga Village on Unga Island 

 and another at Sand Point on Popof Island. Reports from surface 

 observers at these locations indicate that occasional otters wander 

 to the vicinity of these two islands but that no sizable population 

 exists there. About half of Unga Island was surveyed in 1962 and 

 only four otters were seen, confirming reports of surface observers. 

 The sea otter population of the outer Shumagins is, however, large 

 (table 32). Many shallow areas with underwater reefs, particularly 



