Category Archives: Research
A Foggy Situation – Weather Thwarts Annual Survey Of Threatened Sea Otter
On September 23, the US Geological Survey (USGS) announced that unfavorable weather conditions prevented their annual California sea otter population survey[1]. For the first time in more than two decades, inclement weather prevented researchers from collecting aerial observation data used … Continue reading
Taking a stand for the otters you love!!!
So this morning, I was delighted when I opened up my email to find an article about Dr. Terrie Williams studying the heartrate of marine animals up in Santa Cruz to determine how they are affected by our actions. I … Continue reading
MPA Watch Volunteers Needed
As part of our effort to protect sea otter HABITAT, The Otter Project has been heavily involved with the formation of Marine Protected Areas (underwater parks) along California’s central coast. In order to foster compliance with the regulations of these … Continue reading
Clarification on sea otter status
People all over the country are talking about sea otters, thanks to the press coverage of our annual sea otter status report! We’ve gotten all sorts of expressions of concern and support for the sea otter, for which we are … Continue reading
Sea otter population is in trouble
The Otter Project released its sea otter status report today, based on the 2009 spring count and stranding information from throughout the previous year. You can read the report in full by following the link above. Although two indicators showed … Continue reading
Posted in conservation, General Information, Outreach and Awareness, Research
Tagged conservation, endangered species, sea otter, sea otter count, sea otter mortality, sea otter population, sea otter status report, sea otter strandings, sea otters, southern sea otter, The Otter Project
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Oil persists in environment more than 20 years after spill
A new study by engineering professor Michel C. Boufadel, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Temple University found large remaining pools of oil remain in gravel-sand beaches in Alaska, near the site of the 1989 Exxon … Continue reading
Sea otter strandings–up or down?
Every month we get an update of how many otters were found dead on beaches throughout the range. Sea otter strandings are one of several indices of how well the population is doing. It’s hard to tell from any one … Continue reading
Posted in General Information, Otter Spottings, Research
Tagged sea otter data, sea otter range, sea otters, strandings
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What’s killing otters?
I feel like I’ve been writing about dead sea otters a little too frequently recently–an unfortunate job hazard. This week the Monterey Bay Aquarium joined in with a profile of Dr. Melissa Miller’s work. Dr. Miller is a pathologist with … Continue reading
A day in the life of an otter tracker
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Notes blog has a great two part entry about otter tracking, “A Big Day for Otter 451“ featuring, of course, otter 451, a recently released rehabbed pup. It features some great pictures of 451 and an entertaining narrative … Continue reading
Posted in General Information, Otter Spottings, Partners and friends, Research
Tagged Otter Spottings
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For all you ocean lovin fools
Stumbled upon a great marine resource on the web, marinebio.org. I was especially impressed by their extensive list of journals that publish ocean research, and this great summary of what people can do to help the ocean.
