Sea Otters [2]

These sea otters seemingly relaxing on and around little icebergs in Prince William Sound seemed as interested in us as we were in them.

 

Thousands of otters died after the Exxon Valdez oil tanker disgorged more than 10 million gallons of crude oil onto the Alaskan coast on March 24, 1989 after having run aground on Bligh Reef. It has taken the sea otter population of Prince William Sound 25 years to recover.

 

Thousands of otters likely died immediately as they soaked in sludge. For the next two decades, a filthy oil residue poisoned otters as they fed, slowing the recovery process. Ongoing adult otter death may have occurred because, after the spill, the surviving otters suffered from near-constant exposure to toxic chemicals as the animals foraged for mussels and other shellfish in the crude-soaked sand and gravel beds of the Sound.

 

Although this population of northern sea otters is now considered recovered, the subspecies as a whole—which can be found throughout Alaska's southern coast and islands—remains endangered, protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. They are a different subspecies than the sea otters that swim off California's coast.

Done