Posted on 02/18/2012 8:42:25 AM PST by null and void
California's sea otters have struggled for years with diseases, parasites and even the occasional collision with boats. But now the fuzzy coastal mascots are increasingly facing another threat: shark attacks.
It's difficult to say that white shark numbers are increasing. Last year, the first comprehensive study of the number of white sharks off the California coast estimated there are 219, fewer than previously thought.
Block said other species of sharks, including sevengills and makos, might also be attacking otters. She said having a population of large predators is healthy for any ecosystem, and that more research is needed before clear conclusions can be drawn.
One major change: the abundance of elephant seals. Until 1990, the large mammals were rare along the coast in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. But that year, two dozen came ashore at Piedras Blancas, near Hearst Castle. Now there are more than 15,000.
Had the rate of shark attacks remained where it was a decade ago, there would be about 500 more California sea otters now -- around 3,250, according to his computer models. That would be enough to reach the 3,090 population target to remove the otter from the federal endangered species list.
Can anything be done?
"It's a hard thing to explain to people," he said. "But there's nothing we can do about changes in shark distribution or shark behavior. It's natural."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
"But there's nothing we can do about changes in shark distribution or shark behavior. It's natural."
Yet we are constantly told that we can wipe them out without even trying, and how fragile the whole system is...
Due to global warming no doubt. Anything bad is due to global warming.
I’m sure it’s not deliberate. The sharks are probably just mistaking the otters for surfers.
The otters ought to starting wearing liberal democrat costumes. Then the sharks would leave them alone out of professional curtesy.
Otters are playful animals and until recently it was mostly male otters getting bitten by the sharks. Probably what we have here is some kind of initiation ritual for otter gangs--the new member has to taunt a shark as part of the ritual...and sometimes they get killed doing so.
Why there are more female otters being bitten recently is harder to explain, but they should not rule out the possibility that these are lesbian otters who are imitating male behavior.
“The otters ought to starting wearing liberal democrat costumes. Then the sharks would leave them alone out of professional curtesy.”
Give the otters Johnnie Cochran masks.
*ouch*!
What? Some wild animals kill and eat others? But ... they told me at school that Nature is Good!
Until the abalone population returns, we have too many otters.
Let the sharks feast.
“One major change: the abundance of elephant seals.”
There you go. I also assume these are a protected species thus leading to ballooning in numbers and drawing in more predators for a quick meal.
A moose bit my sister once.
It’s that damned Navy sonar hypnotizing the sharks!
sarc
I’ve been praying that one PETA idiot jumps into a lion’s cage to defend the animal...
I would especially like to see the Otter skin coat come back in style. These little pests eat a couple thousand dollars worth of abalone a day.
Does California have a pro-cockroach group?
It’s California. Nobody cares. The otters don’t pay union dues.
Gee, here’s a dumb thought,...try KILLING the sharks!!!!!
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