Sea Otter Census

I enjoyed talking live from the field to my classes today via conference calls. The day began with meeting Tom Kieckhefer at Moss Landing Harbor. Tom is Associated with Friends of the Sea Otter, and thePacific
cetacean Group. Before we boarded the vessel for the census, Tom educated us on general information on sea otters. He brought hands-on materials including an otter skull, an otter pelt, and various clam shells that helped us be able to identify the types of clams that sea otters prey on in this area. Once again, the census was conducted by slowly traveling the seven mile Elkhorn Slough and collecting data on each otter sighting. My task was to spot the otters and time their dives when they were foraging for food. The average dive time was 60 sec. We observed otters surfacing with Green Crabs, Washington Clams, and Gaper Clams. We were close enough to hear them crunching the crabs and breaking open the clams by using a rock on their chest. The final count of today's census was 82.