THE SEA OTTER IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN 257 



Figure 99. — This aged male sea otter sought escape from a high wind in a 

 sheltered cove. It was in a final stage of starvation, appeared to be blind or 

 nearly blind, and showed severe dental attrition. Most adults found dead 

 exhibited similar symptoms of aging. Amchitka Island, 26 February 1962. 

 (KWK 62-17-3) 



Small helpless pups are present in the Amchitka population at 

 all seasons. They were, however, seldom found dead on beaches. 

 Two were found in 1959 and two in 1962. Three reasons are 

 suggested to explain why few are found dead. (1) Mothers habitu- 

 ally give more care and attention to small pups than to large 

 juveniles. (2) Small pups require comparatively little food and 

 mothers are able to supply their food needs without undue strain 

 on themselves. (3) If a small pup dies it is retained by the mother 

 until it becomes saturated with water. When she finally deserts 

 the body it may sink and not be found on the beach. 



Among captive otters we observed that when a mother otter is 

 given a reduced ration of food she steals food from her pup. This 

 behavior suggests that when stormy weather and reduced prey 

 populations make it difficult to obtain sufficient food for herself 

 and her pup, she deserts her large juvenile at an earlier age than 

 she would during moderate summer weather when food gathering 

 is less difficult. 



Among animals found dead, the percentage of juveniles in the 

 different study periods varied from 48 to 94 percent. Mortality 



