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Sea Otter Mortality

Recent increases in the frequency and variety of infectious diseases in the southern sea otter may jeopardize the population recovery of this threatened species. This information sheet includes a list of selected publications.

  • sea otter with its head poking out of the ocean

Sea Otter Studies at WERC

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are keystone predators in the nearshore environment of the eastern Pacific Ocean, in a food web composed of sea otter, sea urchin, and kelp forest. Without sea otters, the kelp forest can be overgrazed by sea urchins, which in turn can affect other species that depend on this ecosystem. This resource provides links to More...

  • A sea otter floats on its back while grooming

Evaluation of Fish Movement and Water Velocities Near a Prototype Behavioral Guidance System at Lower Granite Dam

Since 1994, scientists from the Anadromous Fish Ecology Team have been assisting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in evaluating the migration behavior and passage of juvenile salmon and steelhead through Lower Granite Reservoir and Dam on the Snake River, WA. The goal of this study is to identify the behavior of individual juvenile salmon More...

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Xenobiotic Impact on Arctic Charr: Nutritional Modulation and Physiological Consequences

The Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in the northern most latitudes migrate to the ocean in the spring to feed and grow. This results in accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in their visceral fat. During the winter, the charr reside in freshwater lakes and do not feed. They do mobilize lipids from adipose tissue for energy, which More...

  • Photo of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus).

Reducing Pesticide Pollution of Aquatic Ecosystems

In an attempt to decrease pesticide pollution of aquatic ecosystems, we have begun a project to develop biological control agents to protect plants against fungal diseases. This study has three objectives: (1) understanding how fungi cause disease; (2) understanding how plants that are symbiotic with certain fungi are resistant to fungal diseases; More...

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Evaluating the Role of Wetlands to Endangered Salmonids at Toppenish and Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge

Threatened and endangered salmonids in the Pacific Northwest often use backwaters and wetlands as they migrate toward the ocean, however our understanding of the role of wetlands to juvenile salmonids is limited. The major Objective of this study was to determine whether juvenile steelhead were being tapped on the wetland during spring, and More...

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Genetic Analysis of Pacific Salmonids in the Northeast Pacific and the Russian Far East

This U.S./Russian collaboration will investigate genetics and life histories of Kamchatka Peninsula rainbow trout and steelhead (O. mykiss), and Dolly Varden, white-spotted, and arctic char (S. malma, S. leucomaensis, and S. alpinus, respectively). Both anadromous and resident forms of these generally occur in Kamchatka rivers that are free from More...

  • Shown are an adult Siberian white spotted char, or kundza (Salvelinus leucomaensis, top), and a pre-

Building Experimental Capacity to Assess Ballast Treatment Effectiveness and Residual Risk

Ballast water discharges are the most significant cause of aquatic biological invasions in coastal waters, including the Great Lakes. Currently, treatment of ballast water prior to discharge at the receiving port offers significant promise to help control this problem. However, development of treatment technologies is limited by lack of objective More...

  • Image of ship discharging ballast water

Science Support for Wetland Restoration in the Napa-Sonoma Salt Ponds

Over the past 150 years, land reclamation activities have resulted in loss of significant amounts of tidal marshes (sometimes referred to as inter-tidal wetlands, the estuarine zone that is alternately flooded and exposed) in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay/Delta). Recently, in an effort to halt or reverse the decline More...

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Retrospective evaluation of Exxon Valdez oil spill Trustee Council sponsored sea otter studies

An extensive and diverse array of studies were implemented concurrent with and for several years following the Exxon Valdez oil spill to determine the acute and chronic effects to sea otters. In part, this paper describes what activities relative to sea otters should take place prior to, during, and following another spill similar to the Exxon More...

  • sea otter in ocean at time of oil spill

Contaminant Exposure and Effects-Terrestrial Vertebrates database (CEE-TV)

Information about ecotoxicological exposure and its effects on terrestrial vertebrates residing in estuarine and coastal habitats like the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the Great Lakes. These vertebrates include birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. The data is a compilation of results from computerized More...

  • CEE-TV Database logo

Protocols for Monitoring with Digital Video and a SONAR-based Locating System (FISC)

Coral Reefs in the Caribbean and western Atlantic are deteriorating in response to hurricanes, coral diseases, anchor damage, sedimentation, and other stresses. USGS biologists at the Caribbean Field Station are documenting the current status of coral reefs and the effects of some of these stresses. The primary objective of this issue overview is More...

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