Sea Otter Country STORY & PHOTOS by ISABELLE GROC
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With the sea otters’ return to British Columbia’s coast, scientists and tour operators are discovering a big impact on local ecosystems—and economies Sea Otter Country STORY & PHOTOS BY ISABELLE GROC 62 • BCM BCM• 63 t low tide, Spring Island’s shore- opportunity to discuss them in the con- now nearly 7,000 animals along the west they can: sea urchins first, but also abalo- can be far-reaching. For example, Rech- line becomes alive with colours text of how a place has been changing coast of Vancouver Island and the central ne, mussels, clams, crabs and snails. steiner found that in areas where otters and movement. Tiny sculpins through time and what the relationships coast of B.C. Ironically, Spring Island— The otters’ voracious appetite has pro- had been established the longest—like the busily move around the marine are with humans.” where the otters are now a regular sight— found implications for the local ecosys- Kyuquot region—there were more oyster- A algae in tide pools alongside a Spring Island, located in the Mission was named after Captain William Spring tems. In an environment where otters are catchers than in areas where otters had myriad of other invertebrates, while crabs Group of islands off the west coast of Van- who was involved in the fur trade up and absent, sea urchins thrive and eradicate arrived recently. Oystercatchers are large play hide-and-seek in the exposed sea- couver Island, is near the Checleset Bay down the Pacific Coast and contributed to kelp beds. When otters move in, they de- black shorebirds, easily recognizable with grass beds. From shore, shiny black heads Ecological Reserve and the First Nations the decline of fur seal and sea otter popu- vour the urchins and kelp forests flourish their long, bright-red bills. Rechsteiner can be seen at the surface of the water. village of Kyuquot. The island, which boasts lations in the late 1800s. as a result. A study led by marine ecologist suspects that as otters pull bunches of They could easily be mistaken for bobbing an intact old-growth rainforest with giant Biologists describe sea otters as a key- Russell Markel found that kelp forests were large mussels off the rocks, this creates kelp floats, but binoculars reveal a raft of Sitka spruce trees and Western redcedar stone species, meaning that as they come nearly 20 times larger on the west coast of bare patches where juvenile invertebrates about 120 sea otters. trees that are over 1,000 years old, is also in back, they are transforming the environ- Vancouver Island after otters eliminated can settle and grow, which in turn feeds “It is a constant motion machine,” says the heart of sea otter country. ment around them. Unlike other marine red sea urchins. Kelp forests provide cover the oystercatchers who cannot eat the David Pinel, our guide and the owner of mammals, they do not have a layer of and food for many invertebrates and fish, larger mussels. kayak tour company West Coast Expedi- HUNTED TO EXTIRPATION by fur traders, blubber to keep them warm. Instead, they help reduce coastal erosion and capture The return of sea otters seems to benefit tions. “Some of them are resting, others are sea otters were absent in British Columbia rely on their dense fur coat for insulation carbon. “Sea otters are a huge drivers of a range of animals, small and big. Coastal grooming, shaking their fur, repositioning.” by the 1930s. Between 1969 and 1972, 89 ot- against the cold. Because of their higher change,” says Erin Rechsteiner, a research wolves that patrol the Mission Group of Pinel has made sea otter viewing a main ters from Alaska were reintroduced to Che- metabolic rate, sea otters must eat up to a ecologist at the Hakai Institute and a PhD islands are able to include sea otters on focus of the ecotourism tours he has been cleset Bay. Since then, otters have made a quarter of their weight daily to meet their student at the University of Victoria’s Ap- the menu of their marine diet, while har- leading for the last 20 years in the region. remarkable comeback. Their numbers and energy requirements. When they first ar- plied Conservation Science Lab. lequin ducks follow sea otters in the win- “With sea otters on our doorstep, it is an range have expanded rapidly, and there are rive in an area, they eat all the shellfish Otters’ impacts on coastal ecosystems tertime, also hoping for a good meal. Un- like the shallow-diving ducks, otters can dive down more than 20 metres to retrieve sea urchins and other invertebrates off the seafloor. They bring back their catch to the surface, often lying on their back with food on the chest, while they eat and handle prey. Sea urchins are normally too large and too deep for the harlequin ducks to get themselves, but when the sea otters crack open the urchins at the sur- face, the ducks enjoy the urchin scraps in the otters’ wake. Because urchins are very nutritious, it helps the birds make it through the winter. “The sea otters pro- vide this really cool prey subsidy to the ducks,” says Rechsteiner. THE LONG-TERM influence of these ecol- ogy wizards on the landscape is still not entirely understood. For example, when otters dig seagrass beds to find clams and leave foraging holes behind, they may be oxygenating the soil and helping the sea- grass grow faster. On the other hand, the disturbance they create may contribute to releasing carbon buried in the sediment into the atmosphere. “The jury is still out as what the sea otter’s’s engineering imim-- pacts are going to be on seagrass beds,” says Margot Hessing-Lewis, a marine ecoeco-- logist at Hakai Institute who studies interinter-- actions between sea otters and the link- ages between nearshore habitats such Kayaks are a perfect way to explore coastal waters and observe sensitive wildlife habitats. 64 • BCM BCM• 65 as seagrass beds and kelp forests. there is much more beach-cast kelp in other species,” Pinel says. seeing 50 male otters getting blown into a INCREASINGLY, THE RECOVERY of sea to go on a wildlife tour, after whales, sug- When Pinel leads land-based and kayak areas with sea otters,” says Rechsteiner. From land or from a kayak, visitors can small cove during a winter storm on the otters can attract tourist dollars. A recent gests that people are really interested tours off Spring Island, he points to the She suspects that kelp that wash up on enjoy the various and sometimes comical central coast. The otters were feeding over survey of Vancouver Island visitors found in sea otters and that there is potential multiple interactions between the sea ot- the shoreline may feed the terrestrial eco- behaviours sea otters engage in. “People kelp beds where they were pulling up that the willingness to pay for a wildlife benefit to tourism on the west coast of ters and the local ecosystem, as tourists system and the small animals that live on can connect the relevance of the sea otter red turban snails and smashing them in tour was $228 per visitor if there was a high Vancouver Island,” says Rebecca Martone spot a flock of oystercatchers on a small land, but more research needs to be done story with some elements of being a hu- half on rocks that they used as tools. “All chance of seeing otters. In comparison, the who led the tourism study as a research rock or take notice of the healthy seagrass to test this assumption. man on our own and the various struggles the rocks made slightly different sounds, equivalent figure for a high chance of see- associate with the University of British beds in the intertidal zone. On land, visi- “Sea otters are a lens, a door into so many for existence for staying warm, dry and there were so many otters,” Rechsteiner ing whales was $302. Columbia’s Institute for Resources, Envi- tors may also notice beach-cast kelp, an- topics about ecology, the history of British feeding ourselves,” Pinel notes. says. “It was like being in a middle of a “The fact that sea otters are the second ronment and Sustainability. other potential sea otter effect. “It seems Columbia, First Nations, interactions with Rechsteiner fondly remembers once drumming circle.” most important factor in people’s choice Martone showed that the potential 66 • BCM Sea Otter habitat & range Range 2008 Aristizabal Is. Be Wolf Smart Sea otters aren’t the only sensitive Goose Group Range expansion species in the area. For your safety since 2013 and that of the local wolves, use these safety tips. Calvert Is. Please leave dogs at home, on Smith Sound your boat, or at the very least, have them on a leash—wolves consider dogs to be a threat in their territory Scott Islands Port Hardy and will likely assert themselves Winter Harbour by attacking. This can also become dangerous for you and any children if nearby, caught in the middle or Checleset Bay Ecological intervening. Reserve Appreciate wolf sightings and Spring Is. avoid disturbing them when you see them foraging in intertidal areas, cruising the last high tide line Clayoquot Sound looking for food, or in transit—what Tofino an incredible wilderness experi- ence! Only scare a wolf away if it revenue to tourism operators would obviously turns in your direction change by several million dollars based and approaches. If coastal wolves on changes in sea otter abundance. For Victoria can forage successfully without example, if there were more sea otters in being disturbed, they are less likely an area, this would translate into a 7.4 per- clams every day.