Some Preliminary Observations on the Foraging of Sea Otters off the Outer Coast of Washington State, USA

Since reintroduction of sea otters began in 1969 off the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, USA, the population has increased to 360. We begun studying the natural history of this populaton in Summer 1994. This paper presents some of our findings on foraging behaviour and food habits. Clams and crabs predominate, with the addition of snails. Mean dive times of about 56 seconds for females and 68 seconds for males were found, with 89% of dives successfully obtaining prey. Prior to 1995 this area has received little predation pressure from sea otters, and we anticipate seeing a very different array of prey items at the new site.