180 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 68 



Island off the coast is about 250 miles. Sea otters are scarce along 

 the coast of the Kenai Peninsula. The center of the sea otter 

 population in this area is in Prince William Sound. 



Many reports of otters, particularly from Prince William Sound, 

 were made during past years by personnel of the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and 

 the U.S. Coast Guard (Lensink, 1962). That the population is a 

 long-established one is indicated by the seizure by the Government 

 of two illegally taken skins at Seward in 1924 (U.S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries, 1925). 



Aerial surveys made in 1959 by Lensink (1962) furnish the best 

 modern information on sea otter populations in this region (table 

 35). We did not conduct an aerial survey of the Kenai Peninsula 

 but a number of biologists have visited this coast. The lack of sea 

 otter observations by them and by residents indicates that no 

 significant population of otters occupy this area. 



The long established Prince William Sound sea otter population 

 may have reached maximum size some years ago followed by a 

 decrease in recent years, or, possibly the surveys are not compara- 

 ble (table 35). The reason for the indicated decline is a matter of 

 speculation. It may be that ecological conditions are marginal. Much 

 of the coastal area is precipitous, furnishing only a narrow zone of 

 shallow water where sea otters may obtain food. The Prince 

 William Sound population, being the most northerly in Alaska, 

 may suffer during severe winter w^eather. Available food species 

 may be heavily infested with parasites to which the sea otter is 

 poorly adapted. F. H. Fay found an individual more massively in- 

 fested than any animals taken from other areas (see Parasites and 

 Miscellaneous Diseases). Lastly, it is possible that the relatively 



Table 35. — Number of sea otters observed and estimated population in the 

 Kenai Peninsula, Prince William Sound, and Kayak Island areas 



Aerial survey Estimated 

 observations populations 



Area 1959 1 1964 2 1959 » 1964 



Kayak'Wingham Islands 138 24 184 40 



Hinchinbrook Island 58 167 93 223 



Montague Island 349 42 465 70 



Green and Little Green Islands 42 116 70 155 



Latouche and Erlington Islands 87 1 145 2 



Other, including unsurveyed areas 28 42 47 70 



Total 702 392 1,004 560 



1 Data from aerial surveys made in April and August 1959 using a Cessna 180 aircraft. 



, John Vania, letter of 30 October 1964. Aerial sui-vevs made 1 and 2 October 1964. 



3 Estimates, although similar to Lensink's estimate of 1,000 to 1,500 (1962), are not taken 

 from his report. For the sake of uniformity in this report they were computed on the same 

 basis as other estimates. 



