THE SEA OTTER IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN 279 



occurred is available. Limbaugh (in Gilbert, 1963) says that ''white 

 sharks may be threatening" the small sea otter population on the 

 central California coast. The degree to which man or sharks kill 

 sea otters along the California coast still appears to be an un- 

 resolved question. In Alaska no deaths attributable to sharks are 

 recorded. 



KILLER WHALE Orcinus orca 



Presumably the killer whale may eat sea otters. I have watched 

 killer whales and otters in the same area and have not seen a 

 whale attack an otter. Nikolaev (1965b, p. 231), however, saw a 

 killer whale catch one sea otter. 



On 1 March 1959, near South Bight on the Pacific shore of 

 Amchitka, I watched from the cliff top as five killer whales cruised 

 about outlying reefs. As the whales approached the reefs a harbor 

 seal left the water and climbed onto the rocks. The whales cruised 

 close to the reefs, then proceeded eastward parallel to the shore 

 and into an area where four sea otters were feeding. One otter 

 was eating on the surface when the whales approached and passed 

 only a few feet beneath it. This otter appeared to sense the pres- 

 ence of the whales. It stopped eating and remained motionless 

 while they passed. Otherwise, the otters seemed undisturbed by the 

 whales and the whales exhibited no discernible interest in the 

 otters. 



On 9 April 1959, R. D. Jones and I observed killer whales and 

 otters in the same general area off Kirilof Point on the Bering Sea 

 shore of Amchitka. On several occasions between 1345 and 1645 

 we spent nearly an hour watching two groups of killer whales, 

 one of 9 and the other of 18. They moved parallel to the shore and 

 remained from a quarter to one-half mile from land. Several indi- 

 viduals raised the head and anterior quarter of the body above the 

 surface as if to search the surface visually. Sea otters that were 

 food diving in their vicinity ceased this activity and lay still on 

 the surface or moved slowly toward shore on the surface. We did 

 not see any behavior by the whales which indicated to us that a 

 sea otter was attacked. 



A further observation by Jones (letter, 9 July 1961) is similar. 

 At Rat Island he saw six killer whales which remained for some 

 time ''from 25 to 100 yards off" shore and in the vicinity of "a 

 large pod (over 200) sea otters." The sea otters exhibited "no 

 alarm" and the whales did not attack them. 



Although Barabash-Nikiforov (1947) gives no observation of 



