Sea Otters in Washington State: Lessons Learned from the "Grand Experiment" of the Maritime Fur Trade

Jessie Hale, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, in support of NOAA Fisheries

February 25, 2025

Sea otters historically occurred off the outer coast of Washington State until 1911 when the last sea otter was reported to have been shot. Sea otters were absent from Washington State until 1969 and 1970, when 59 sea otters were translocated from Alaska. This "grand experiment" of the maritime fur trade throughout the North Pacific, including in Washington, has provided researchers with a unique opportunity to study sea otter populations by comparing areas where otters are absent versus areas in varying stages of recovery. While the maritime fur trade undeniably devastated sea otter populations, it is unlikely that we would know as much about sea otter ecology and biology if it had not occurred. Through long-term study, we have witnessed the recovery of remnant and reintroduced sea otter populations in a variety of habitat types and geographies. The unique ability to study sea otter population recovery in this array of contexts has allowed for synthesis of data from many studies and regions, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of consistencies and differences across sea otter populations, and ultimately the drivers of sea otter population dynamics. Dr. Jessie Hale will describe the history of sea otters in Washington State, including the translocation of sea otters back to Washington, and what we have learned since then about their population dynamics, foraging ecology, spatial ecology, and more.