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How the fur trade nearly erased Washington's sea otters
For more than a century, sea otters vanished from Washington’s waters, hunted to extinction and nearly erased from local history. Today, conservationists say their slow return to the coast underscores both the damage of the past and the promise of recovery.
SEATTLE - For more than a century, sea otters vanished from Washington’s waters, hunted to extinction and nearly erased from local history. Today, conservationists say their slow return to the coast underscores both the damage of the past and the promise of recovery.
‘Soft gold’: The fur trade’s toll
Before the maritime fur trade began in 1741, sea otters ranged widely. Dr. Shawn Larson, Senior Conservation Research Manager at the Seattle Aquarium says the species range once extended from Baja, California up the west coast of North America, all the way to Russian and parts of Japan. At one point there were 30,000 sea otters in the Pacific Ocean.
"Trappers would go everywhere they could to find sea otters. All seeking what was known as ‘soft gold’," explained Larson.
"That fur is so thick. One million hairs per square inch, so the water never touches their skin, and this is why their fur was so valuable. It’s the most incredibly thick, luxurious fur you’ve ever felt."
Because sea otter pelts were so valuable, at one point hunters could earn between $500 and $1,000 for a single pelt.
By 1910, the Washington sea otter had been hunted to extinction.
"The last sea otter, a native sea otter, was shot for its fur in Willapa Bay," said Larson.
Across the North Pacific, populations collapsed.
"There were only a thousand sea otters left in the North Pacific," said Larson. "So they went from 300,000 animals to a thousand in about 200 years."
Some survived in remote areas inaccessible to hunters.
"That’s the reason why we have sea otters here today," explained Larson.
Recovery and resilience
Translocation efforts in the late 1960s and early 1970s brought sea otters back to parts of the West Coast, including Washington. Today, Larson said, there are about 3,000 sea otters off Washington’s coast, roughly a third of the way to full recovery.
Their range remains limited to hard-to-reach stretches of coastline, and large swathes of the West Coast still lack sea otters.
Sea otter map along Washington's coastline
Their return matters far beyond the species itself.
"The reason why it’s so important to have sea otters back in the near shore is the ecosystem services they provide," said Larson. "These guys are known as a keystone species."
Sea otters feed on creatures like sea urchins, which can encroach on kelp forests and eelgrass. Without otters, those populations can explode, damaging marine habitats.
"Ecosystems are more productive with sea otters, they have more biodiversity, and new work is showing that they are more resilient to climate change," said Larson.
At the Seattle aquarium, three sea otters offer a tangible connection to that broader effort. A reminder of both what was lost and what could be restored.
A new year, a new otter
"Being mammals, being very cute mammals, large eyes that all is always something that we naturally gravitate towards," said Veronica Seawall, curator of birds and mammals at the Seattle Aquarium.
Ruby, the aquarium’s first southern sea otter, arrived in Elliot Bay in the new year.
Ruby the southern sea otter (FOX 13 Seattle)
"Some of her personality quirks stand out to us," said Seawall. "She will come up and investigate things at the window."
Ruby’s story, however, nearly ended before it began.
"So Ruby was rescued as a one-day-old pup in 2015," said Seawall. "They presumed she was a day old because the umbilical was still stuck on her. So she was freshly born, only 1.9 pounds when she was rescued, so she was the smallest pup Monterey had brought in."
Caregivers attempted multiple times to return Ruby to the wild.
"But unfortunately, she was a little too comfortable with people because some well-meaning folks decided to start feeding her," explained Seawall.
Ruby and her companions Mishka and Sekiu are serving as what Seawall calls ambassadors.
"We’re working really hard to protect them out in the wild," she said. "We’re also giving people an up-close view of sea otters and why they’re so special."
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle Aquarium, MOHAI, and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.