Southern Sea Otter
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Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) Population Biology at Big Sur and Monterey, California—Investigating the Consequences of Resource Abundance and Anthropogenic Stressors for Sea Otter Recovery Open-File Report 2019–1022 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover: Photographs showing rugged and sparsely populated Big Sur Coast (top), tagged sea otter feeding on sand dollars in Monterey (middle), and the Monterey Peninsula with a high degree of coastal development and use (bottom). Photographs by Joseph Tomoleoni, U.S. Geological Survey, March 8, 2010 (top), February 28, 2018 (middle), and March 31, 2010 (bottom). Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) Population Biology at Big Sur and Monterey, California—Investigating the Consequences of Resource Abundance and Anthropogenic Stressors for Sea Otter Recovery By M. Tim Tinker, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Benjamin P. Weitzman, Michelle Staedler, Dave Jessup, Michael J. Murray, Melissa Miller, Tristan Burgess, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Nicole Thometz, Lily Tarjan, Emily Golson, Francesca Batac, Erin Dodd, Eva Berberich, Jessica Kunz, Gena Bentall, Jessica Fujii, Teri Nicholson, Seth Newsome, Ann Melli, Nicole LaRoche, Holly MacCormick, Andy Johnson, Laird Henkel, Chris Kreuder-Johnson, and Pat Conrad Open-File Report 2019–1022 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior DAVID BERNHARDT, Acting Secretary U.S. Geological Survey James F. Reilly II, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2019 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit https://www.usgs.gov/ or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and pu blications, visit https:/store.usgs.gov. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by t he U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Tinker, M.T., Tomoleoni, J.A., Weitzman, B.P., Staedler, M., Jessup, D., Murray, M.J., Miller, M., Burgess, T., Bowen, L., Miles, A.K., Thometz, N., Tarjan, L., Golson, E., Batac, F., Dodd, E., Berberich, E., Kunz, J., Bentall, G., F ujii, J., Nicholson, T., Newsome, S., Melli, A., LaRoche, N., MacCormick, H, J. ohnson, A., Henkel, L., Kreuder-Johnson, C., and Conrad, P., 2019, Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis ) population biology at Big Sur and Monterey, California—Investigating the consequences of resource abundance and anthropogenic stressors for sea otter recovery: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2019–1022, 225 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20191022. ISSN 2331-1258 (online) Contents Chapter 1. Overview of Study Objectives, Hypotheses, and Methods ....................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Methods .................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Live Sea Otter Captures ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Processing, Sampling, Health Assessments, and Tagging ................................................................................. 4 Live Sea Otter Surveillance ................................................................................................................................. 5 Dead Sea Otter Surveillance ............................................................................................................................... 6 Data Analyses ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 References Cited .................................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2. Sea Otter Health Assessments at Big Sur and Monterey ....................................................................... 22 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 22 Methods ................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Results .................................................................................................................................................................. 25 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 References Cited .................................................................................................................................................. 28 Chapter 3. Gene Transcription—Immune and Detoxification Function in California Sea Otters .............................. 47 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 47 Methods ................................................................................................................................................................ 48 Free-Ranging Target Otters .............................................................................................................................. 48 Captive Reference Otters .................................................................................................................................. 48 Blood Collection and Ribonucleic Acid Extraction ............................................................................................. 48 Complementary Deoxyribonucleic Acid Creation............................................................................................... 49 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ............................................................................................................. 49 Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 49 Results .................................................................................................................................................................. 50 Transcription Pattern Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 50 Within Site—Sex by Year Transcription Differences .......................................................................................... 51 Gene-Specific Patterns ...................................................................................................................................... 52 Heatmap Pattern Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 52 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................. 52 Transcription Pattern Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 52 Within-Site Year by Sex Transcription Differences ............................................................................................ 53 References Cited .................................................................................................................................................. 54 Chapter 4. Movement Behavior and Home Range Use of Sea Otters at Big Sur and Monterey ............................. 63 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 63 Methods ................................................................................................................................................................ 65 Movement Behavior .......................................................................................................................................... 65 Home-Range Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 67 Results .................................................................................................................................................................. 68 Home-Range Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 68 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................. 69 Home-Range Estimation ..................................................................................................................................