Background

A collaborative sea otter study led by University of California, Santa Cruz, researchers is underway in Elkhorn Slough. Participating organizations and agencies include CDFW, USGS, Monterey Bay Aquarium, The Marine Mammal Center, ESNERR (ROMP), USFWS, and others. The purpose of the study is threefold: (1) to provide updated information on sea otter body condition, foraging success, and habitat use for comparison with data from a previous study conducted 2013–2016, (2) to provide novel information on sea otters’ physiological responses to stressors, and (3) to provide novel information on the social structure of sea otters. This fall, sea otter captures in Elkhorn Slough will occur for the third consecutive year. The goal is to recapture and resample sea otters tagged in previous years, replace missing tags, and capture new sea otters to add to the study. Sea otters will be captured primarily using tangle nets and transported to MLML Marine Operations for sedation, sampling, and tagging. After sampling and tagging are complete, the sedation will be reversed, and the sea otters will be transported back to their capture location and released. Monitoring of tagged sea otters is ongoing.