Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium

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Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium Thursday, April 1: 12:30pm to 4:15pm PDT Friday, April 2: 9am to 1:15pm PDT Meeting hosts Seattle Aquarium and Defenders of Wildlife Zoom coordinators and meeting facilitators Shawn Larson (Seattle Aquarium), Andy Johnson (Defenders of Wildlife), Michelle Staedler (UC Santa Cruz), Becky Bingham (Seattle Aquarium), Monica LeFlore (Defenders of Wildlife) Thursday, April 1, 2021 Seattle Aquarium 12:30pm Welcome and acknowledgments Defenders of Wildlife SESSION ONE: Demographics Moderated by Michelle Staedler 12:40pm Joe Tomoleoni Southern Sea Otter Population Status Update 12:45pm Julie Yee San Nicolas Southern Sea Otter Research Update 12:50pm Colleen Young Southern Sea Otter Stranding Update 1pm Ron Eby Update on the Otters at Elkhorn Slough Status, Trends and Equilibrium Abundance Estimates of the 1:05pm Jessie Hale Translocated Sea Otter Population in Washington State 1:15pm Teal Waterstrat Washington Northern Sea Otter Population Status and Stranding Sea Otter Population Surveys and Benthic Sampling in the 1:25pm Paul Schuette Western Aleutians Diffusion Modeling Reveals Effects of Multiple Release Sites and 1:30pm Joseph Eisaguirre Human Activity on A Recolonizing Apex Predator Life History (LHX2) Tags in Kachemak Bay, Alaska: Pilot Project 1:35pm Caroline Cummings Update 1:45pm Q & A 1:50pm Break SESSION TWO: Conservation, management and outreach I Moderated by Andy Johnson 1:55pm Lilian Carswell Southern Sea Otter Management Update 2:05pm Dan Esler USGS Sea Otter Research and Monitoring in Alaska Changes to Preparation for Responding to 2:15pm Don Noviello Oil Injured Sea Otters Evaluating the Feasibility of Sea Otter Restoration in Oregon: 2:25pm John Goodell Studies, Plans, and Updates 2:35pm Nicole Duplaix IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Update 2:40pm Andy Johnson Defenders of Sea Otters! 2:45pm Q & A 2:50pm Break Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium 2 SESSION THREE: Conservation, management, and outreach II Moderated by Tim Tinker 2:55pm Heather Barrett Sea Otter Savvy and the Cost of Disturbance The Economic Value of Sea Otters and Recreational Tourism in a 3:05pm Jessica Fujii California Estuary Examining Potential Conflict Between Sea Otters and the 3:15pm Andre Boustany Dungeness Crab Fishery in California Behavioral Responses Across a Mosaic of Ecosystem States 3:25pm Josh Smith Restructure a Sea Otter-Urchin Trophic Cascade Population Impacts of Domoic Acid Exposure in Southern Sea 3:35pm Megan Moriarty Otters: An Increasing Threat in a Changing Climate A Summary of Sea Otter Modeling Efforts to Inform Conservation 3:45pm Tim Tinker from California to Oregon to Haida Gwaii 4pm Q & A 4:05pm Announcements, appreciations, wrap-up 4:15pm Day 1 adjourned Friday, April 2, 2021 Seattle Aquarium 9am Welcome and acknowledgments Defenders of Wildlife SESSION FOUR: Health Moderated by Mike Murray Kathy Burek Causes of Mortality of Northern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) 9:05am Huntington in Alaska from 2002 to 2012 9:10am Greg Frankfurter Sea Otter Rehabilitation in the Puget Sound Bacterial Taxa Associated with Nasopulmonary Mites 9:15am Risa Pesapane (Acari: Halarachnidae) Including Streptococcus phocae in Marine Mammals Suspected Ovarian Granulosa Cell Tumor in an Adult Female 9:25am Angelina Reed Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) Southern Sea Otter Thermal Function and Morphology Across 9:30am Kate Riordan Ontogeny Investigating the Presence and Trophic Transfer of Microplastics in 9:40am Jennifer VanBrocklin Ex- and In-Situ Sea Otters using Scat and Diet Analysis Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium 3 9:45am Q & A 9:50am Break SESSION FIVE: Genetics Moderated by Shawn Larson Range-wide Genomic Sampling Illuminates Sea Otter Population 9:55am Annabel Beichman Structure and Consequences of Fur Trade Exploitation Investigating Relationships Between Genetics and Causes of 10:05am Nicole Hallie Carter Mortality in Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) Physical Disturbance by Recovering Sea Otter Populations 10:15am Erin Foster Increases Eelgrass Genetic Diversity Investigation of Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Patterns Among 10:20am Peter Sebastian Vibrio spp. in Sea Otters and Marine Mussels Effects of Limited Dispersal by Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) on 10:25am Daniel Monson Population Dynamics: Relevance to the Threatened Southwest Alaska Distinct Population Segment 10:35am Shawn Larson Seattle Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research Program Archaeological Mitogenomes Illuminate the Historical Ecology of 10:40am Hannah Wellman Oregon Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) 10:50am Q & A 10:55am Break SESSION SIX: Ecology I Moderated by Karl Mayer Historical Ecology of Sea Otters from Alaska, Oregon 11am Emma Elliott Smith and California Sea Otter Impacts to Seagrass Communities Across the Northeast 11:05am Joseph Jackson Pacific Changes in Kelp Canopy Cover Associated with Sea Otter Recovery 11:10am Tom Bell in the Northeast Pacific Monitoring the Salt Marsh Habitat Use and Foraging Habits of 11:15am Madeline Sanchez the Recovering Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) in a Recolonized Ecosystem 11:20am Nicole LaRoche Sea Otter Diet Composition in Southern Southeast Alaska Flexing Their Mussels: Sea Otter Diet Shifts in Response to Mussel 11:25am James Bodkin Abundance Combining Contemporary Models and Aerial 11:30am Jamie Womble Photographic Surveys to Monitor Sea Otters in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium 4 Dietary Patterns and Energy Intake Rates of Sea Otters 11:40am George Esslinger Recolonizing Glacier Bay Sea Otter Carrying Capacity in a Soft- and Mixed-Sediment 11:50am Randall Davis Benthic Habitat Noon Mike Kenner Tribute to Glenn VanBlaricom 12:05pm Q & A 12:10pm Break SESSION SEVEN: Ecology II Moderated by Lilian Carswell Sea Otter-Orca Interaction Geodatabase: A New Tool for 12:15pm Bethany Walter Researchers and Managers 12:20pm Carter Johnson Fast Kelp-Crab-Handling in Washington’s Sea Otter Population Investigations of Southern Sea Otter Foraging Ecology at the 12:25pm Sophia Lyon Northern Range Extent 12:35pm Chris Law Tool Use Benefits in Southern Sea Otters North Pacific Warming Shifts the Juvenile Range of a Marine Apex 12:45pm Sal Jorgensen Predator Proposed Research: Kelp Forest Complexity, Connectivity and 12:55pm Zachary Randell Resilience with and Without Keystone Predators Along the Olympic Coast 1:05pm Q & A 1:10pm Announcements, appreciations, farewells 1:15pm Day 2 adjourned Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium 5 SESSION ONE: Demographics Southern Sea Otter Population Status Update Joe Tomoleoni, U.S. Geological Survey [email protected] This talk provides a summary of the results from our most recent (2019) range-wide census of the southern sea otter population and shares plans for future counts. San Nicolas Southern Sea Otter Research Update Julie Yee, U.S. Geological Survey [email protected] This talk gives an overview of research on the southern sea otter subpopulation at San Nicolas Island, CA, including our latest information on their size, distribution and forage diet. Southern Sea Otter Stranding Update Colleen Young, California Department of Fish and Wildlife [email protected] Stranded sea otters have been systematically collected and examined in California since 1968. The sea otter stranding network is a collaborative effort of many organizations and has resulted in >9,000 recorded stranded sea otters. A summary of strandings, including demographic and geographic information, causes of strandings, and other interesting trends from 2019 and 2020 will be presented. These two years provide a fascinating juxtaposition, with 427 stranded sea otters in 2019, which was consistent with the average of the previous five years (2014–2018; average = 427.6), and 277 stranded sea otters in 2020. Update on the Sea Otters at Elkhorn Slough Ron Eby, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve [email protected] I’ll share historical otter counts since 1984 from USGS and Elkhorn Slough Safari as well as from the Elkhorn Slough Otter Project (2013–2016) and ongoing observations by the Reserve Otter Monitoring Project. The disappearance of the North Harbor otter raft in September of 2019 and other changes in otter distribution. The value of monitoring at least twice a month and the methods used might be applicable to other areas. Sea Otter Research and Conservation Symposium 6 Status, Trends and Equilibrium Abundance Estimates of the Translocated Sea Otter Population in Washington State Jessie Hale, University of Washington [email protected] I will update our research on sea otter population dynamics in Washington state that was recently submitted for publication. We compile available survey data for sea otters in Washington state since their translocation (1977–2019) and fit a Bayesian state-space model to estimate past and current abundance and equilibrium abundance at multiple spatial scales. We then use forward projections of population dynamics to explore potential scenarios of range recolonization and as the basis of a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the relative influence of movement behavior, frontal wave speed, intrinsic growth and equilibrium density on future population recovery potential. Washington Northern Sea Otter Population Status and Stranding Teal Waterstrat, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [email protected] This talk will provide an overview of abundance and distribution of northern sea otters south of British Columbia and a summary
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