The Efficacy of Reintroducing Enhydra Lutris to the Oregon Coast

Abstract

From the 1700s to the early 1910s the Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris, was hunted to extinction off the Oregon Coast. The absence of this keystone species has caused significant disruption to nearshore kelp forests due to the lack of top-down pressure on organisms like the kelp-grazing Pacific purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. From 1970 to 1971, a concerted effort to reintroduce the otters back to Oregon and unite northern and southern otter populations along the West Coast took place but ultimately failed to establish a long-term population in the area. Recently, renewed discussions amongst organizations on the local, state, and federal levels have sparked interest in a potential new attempt at reintroduction. This study aims to provide advisory information for this latest effort by identifying patterns in past reintroduction methodologies and their levels of relative success. Through a comprehensive literature review of academic and governmental reports on the reintroductions and translocations of sea otters and other comparable species, this research will highlight previously effective strategies and ineffective strategies to avoid. Learning from past reintroduction efforts could increase the chances of success of the latest attempt to return sea otters to the Oregon Coast, enhancing the stability of nearshore ecosystems and supporting global sea otter populations.