Project Information

Title: Nearshore synthesis: Sea otters and sea ducks - Modeling Amendment 10100808

Project Year and Number: 2010: 10100808

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2009: 090808, 2008: 070808-A, 2007: 070808

Principal Investigator (PI): Brenda Ballachey (USGS-Alaska Science Center)

Managing Agency: USGS

Assisting Personnel: Daniel Monson

Research Location: Prince William Sound

Restoration Category: Research

Injured Resources Addressed: Sea Otters

Abstract: This is an amendment to project 070808-090808, Sea otter status and nearshore synthesis, to update the sea otter population model with four more years of data. Population models have been utilized for sea otters to evaluate causes underlying a lack of recovery of populations in western Prince William Sound. Data for the models include ages at death (based on recovery of otter carcasses), ages of live animals (based on captured otters), and abundance estimates from aerial surveys. Initial modeling efforts used age-at-death data collected from 1976-1998; later efforts have involved more complex models and have included data sets collected through 2005. Overall, results suggest continued depression of survival rates through 2005, relative to prespill survival. We now have 4 more years of data, and have noted an increase in sea otter abundance at northern Knight Island since 2007. We propose to update the models with the 2006-2009 data, to determine if sea otter survival rates are returning to prespill patterns, and to elucidate the factors underlying the recently observed increase in otter numbers


Proposal: View (84 KB)

Reports:
Final Report: View (824 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available