A Wildlife Conservation SUCCESS: The Miraculous Return of Canada’s Sea Otters
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0:00 - 0:03The magnificent coastal waters
of British Columbia are home -
0:03 - 0:06to an abundance
of incredible marine wildlife -
0:06 - 0:08including humpback whales,
steller sea lions, -
0:08 - 0:11orcas, porpoises, and harbour seals.
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0:11 - 0:16The BC coast is also home
to one of the most iconic, recognizable -
0:16 - 0:18and lovable aquatic mammals:
-
0:18 - 0:19the sea otter.
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0:19 - 0:20With its long whiskers and
-
0:20 - 0:22grizzled facial fur,
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0:22 - 0:25these endearing animals have
fittingly earned the nickname: -
0:25 - 0:27the “old man of the sea”.
-
0:27 - 0:29But despite their cute appearance
-
0:29 - 0:30and engaging antics,
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0:30 - 0:31sea otters have actually endured
-
0:31 - 0:34a long dark history in North America,
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0:34 - 0:37once pushed to the very brink
of extinction. -
0:37 - 0:38My name is John E. Marriott,
-
0:38 - 0:40and this episode, we’re EXPOSING you
-
0:40 - 0:43to one of Canada’s great environmental
success stories: -
0:44 - 0:47the miraculous recovery
of the once-extirpated sea otter -
0:47 - 0:48on the BC coast.
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0:49 - 0:56(Music)
-
1:03 - 1:04Sea otters are unique
-
1:04 - 1:05in that they're the smallest member
-
1:05 - 1:07of the marine mammal family,
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1:07 - 1:09yet also the largest member
of the weasel family. -
1:10 - 1:12Found around sheltered islands,
reefs, fjords, and bays, -
1:13 - 1:15sea otters feed on a variety of seafood,
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1:15 - 1:19including clams, mussels,
crabs and sea urchins. -
1:19 - 1:20It’s not uncommon for sea otters
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1:20 - 1:22to float around in the water on their back
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1:22 - 1:24with their food on their belly
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1:24 - 1:26like a picnic spread on a table,
-
1:26 - 1:27and remarkably,
-
1:27 - 1:29they’re one of the only animals
in the world -
1:29 - 1:31to use tools like we do.
-
1:31 - 1:33Using rocks and other objects to crack,
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1:33 - 1:35open their hard-shelled food
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1:35 - 1:37to get at the yummy stuff inside.
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1:37 - 1:39Sea otters require a ton of food
-
1:39 - 1:42to stay warm in the cold,
coastal pacific waters -
1:42 - 1:44and eat up to 30%
-
1:44 - 1:46of their body weight every single day.
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1:47 - 1:48Unlike other marine mammals,
-
1:48 - 1:50they don’t actually have a lot of body fat
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1:50 - 1:51to insulate themselves,
-
1:51 - 1:54which is why they have one
of the thickest fur coats -
1:54 - 1:55in the animal kingdom,
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1:55 - 1:56made up of two types of hair:
-
1:56 - 1:58long, sparse guard hairs
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1:58 - 2:03and feathery-soft,
super dense warm underfur. -
2:03 - 2:07Unfortunately, it's these beautiful,
luxurious coats -
2:07 - 2:09that are the very reason sea otters
once vanished -
2:09 - 2:12from British Columbia
and Canada altogether. -
2:13 - 2:15Before the fur trade began
in the early 1800s, -
2:15 - 2:18the world’s sea otter population
was estimated -
2:18 - 2:22at between 150,000 and 300,000 animals.
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2:22 - 2:25But by the early 1900s,
just a century later, -
2:25 - 2:27the population had been totally decimated
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2:27 - 2:30by our insatiable appetite for their fur
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2:31 - 2:33and less than 2,000 animals remained.
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2:33 - 2:35Eventually, the sea otter
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2:35 - 2:37disappeared from the BC Coast completely
-
2:37 - 2:38The last otter shot
-
2:38 - 2:42and killed off Vancouver Island in 1929.
-
2:42 - 2:44The long road to recovery
for our sea otters -
2:44 - 2:46began with the combined efforts
-
2:46 - 2:48of federal, state
and provincial governments -
2:48 - 2:50in both Canada and the United States.
-
2:51 - 2:53Between 1969 and 1972,
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2:54 - 2:5689 sea otters from Alaska
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2:56 - 2:57were released in Checleset Bay
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2:57 - 3:00off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
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3:00 - 3:02Amazingly, this reintroduced population
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3:02 - 3:06prospered almost immediately
in the superb coastal habitat -
3:06 - 3:07and by 1996,
-
3:07 - 3:11had doubled more than 4x
to over 1500 otters. -
3:12 - 3:14The stunning initial success
of the reintroduction -
3:14 - 3:16led the federal government to downgrade
-
3:16 - 3:19the sea otters’ status as a species at risk
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3:19 - 3:21from ‘endangered’ to ‘threatened’.
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3:21 - 3:25By 2004, the population had
expanded even more dramatically, -
3:26 - 3:30with sea otters found as far south as
Vargas Island in Clayoquot Sound, -
3:30 - 3:33as far north as the northern tip
of Vancouver Island -
3:33 - 3:35at Cape Scott., and as far east as
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3:35 - 3:38Hope Island in Queen Charlotte Strait.
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3:39 - 3:40Today, sea otters have expanded
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3:40 - 3:42even further afield in British Columbia
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3:43 - 3:44and their status has been downgraded
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3:44 - 3:47from a ‘threatened’ species
to one of ‘special concern’. -
3:47 - 3:49Their continued recovery and expansion
-
3:49 - 3:50on the West Canadian coast
-
3:50 - 3:53is now considered
one of the most successful -
3:53 - 3:55mammal reintroductions
in Canadian history! -
3:56 - 3:59But this astonishing success story
doesn’t end there: -
3:59 - 4:01sea otters are known
as a ‘keystone species’ -
4:01 - 4:03meaning that even a small number of them
-
4:03 - 4:06can have a dramatic effect
on shaping healthy ecosystems. -
4:07 - 4:10If we look back at when sea otters
were eradicated, -
4:10 - 4:12rocks and reefs quickly became overrun
-
4:13 - 4:14with dense populations of sea urchins
-
4:15 - 4:18and these sea urchins in turn wiped out
the kelp forests -
4:18 - 4:20that are so critical to our ocean’s health,
-
4:21 - 4:24essentially removing
the ‘rainforests of the sea’ -
4:25 - 4:27so called because of
the kelp forests’ ability -
4:27 - 4:31to provide food, shelter, oxygen
and a nursery environment -
4:31 - 4:33for a wide variety of sea life.
-
4:35 - 4:36So with sea otters reintroduced
-
4:36 - 4:38and reoccupying their former habitat
-
4:39 - 4:43and resuming their crucial role
in the ecology of BC’s coastal ecosystems, -
4:43 - 4:46the environmental spin-off
has been remarkable: -
4:46 - 4:48the out-of-control sea urchin populations
-
4:48 - 4:50have been brought back under contrtol,
-
4:50 - 4:52and the kelp forests have returned
and flourished, -
4:53 - 4:55completely reshaping our coast
-
4:55 - 4:56in a wonderful way.
-
4:57 - 4:59Despite the success
of their reintroduction, -
5:00 - 5:02sea otters continue to face
a number of threats. -
5:02 - 5:05The most serious is
from environmental contaminants -
5:05 - 5:06like oil spills.
-
5:07 - 5:09Oil spills are catastrophic for sea otters
-
5:10 - 5:12their fur loses its buoyancy
and insulating capabilities -
5:13 - 5:15and the otters end up dying from exposure.
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5:15 - 5:17Those otters that do survive initially,
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5:18 - 5:20end up inhaling and ingesting oil
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5:20 - 5:22when they groom their oil-slicked fur
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5:22 - 5:23causing even more deaths.
-
5:24 - 5:26Not surprisingly,
the sea otter populations -
5:26 - 5:28took almost three decades to recover
-
5:28 - 5:32from the Exxon-Valdez
spill off the coast of Alaska. -
5:33 - 5:34For these reasons
-
5:35 - 5:37it's critical that we continue to protect
sea otter habitat -
5:38 - 5:40and continue to monitor and reduce
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5:40 - 5:42the risk of oil spills along the BC coast.
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5:43 - 5:45Thanks for watching everyone,
-
5:45 - 5:46we really appreciate the support!
-
5:47 - 5:49Please let us know what you thought about
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5:49 - 5:50the episode in the comments below,
-
5:50 - 5:52and don’t forget to subscribe
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5:52 - 5:53and click that little notification bell
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5:53 - 5:55so you don't miss our next episode
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5:55 - 5:57Thanks everyone, see you soon!
- Title:
- A Wildlife Conservation SUCCESS: The Miraculous Return of Canada’s Sea Otters
- Description:
-
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
Amplifying Voices
- Project:
- Wildlife Protection
- Duration:
- 05:58
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