The Reintroduction of Sea Otters to the West Coast of Vancouver Island

Between 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters from Amchitka Island and Prince William Sound, Alaska, were reintroduced to Chek:k'tles7et'h/Ka:´yu:'k't'h' territory in the Bunsby Islands on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. This reintroduction was a cooperative effort between the BC government, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces, the US Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, the Alaska Fish and Game Department and the US Atomic Energy Commission. Glaringly absent from this "cooperative effort" was the local Kyuquot community whose traditional territory was to be affected most significantly by the otters' reintroduction. By 1998, the transplanted otter population (some of the 89 otters died as a result of transport) had grown into a population of approximately 2500 sea otters. 2000 of these otters were off the west coast of Vancouver Island and another 500 were off the BC central coast in the vicinity of the Goose Islands (Scientists are unsure if the Goose Island population came from the transplanted Vancouver Island population or from a remnant population of sea otters). By 2004, sea otters had expanded their range along the mid and south coast of Vancouver Island through the traditional territories of the Hesquiaht and Ahousaht First Nations. Sea otters have recently been sighted as far south as Barkley Sound (it is also possible that these Barkley Sound otters have moved up from the Washington State population) (S. Tyne pers. comm. 2004).
 
 

Translocated populations, such as the Chek:k'tles7et'h/Ka:´yu:'k't'h' population, are thought to have higher growth rates because they are introduced to areas that have not been inhabited by sea otters and consequently have a high abundance of food resources. The growth rate of the sea otter population in the Chek:k´tles7et´h/Ka:´yu:´k´t´h´ has averaged 18.6% per year, or about the maximum rate of increase that scientists estimate for the species. Some scientists believe that an equilibrium has now been reached in the area and sea otter numbers are no longer increasing at the maximum rate. Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council counts of sea otters in the Chek:k´tles7et´h/Ka:´yu:´k´t´h´ area (annual counts since 2001) have found that the sea otter population in this area is now stable (no longer increasing). These counts have also documented a high incidence of pup mortality. Up to 70% of sea otter pups are not surviving (R. Dunlop pers. comm. 2004). At the edges of expanding sea otter range, however, areas such as mid and southern Vancouver Island and the Central Coast, populations are still growing at 17-20% per year.

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