Where's the kelp

I thought the decline of abalone south of SF was due to withering foot syndrome, and not the otters.

-Allen

Withering foot syndrome is primarily south of point conception. Although the pathogen has been detected in abalone farther north the withering syndrome has not, it doesn't seem to affect abalone health in the colder water.

In a natural ecosystem where otters are the apex predators, abalone are not found anywhere near the population density that they are found in the north state. In fact they are only found deep in cracks and small places that otters can't reach. On a typical 8 hour spearfishing dive in Big Sur where I look in every hole a fish can fit in, I usually see less than 10 abalone.

Withering foot coincidentally was introduced by conservation efforts and farm raised abalone.

Saw a sea otter off of muir beach trollin in the cluster 3 weeks ago. Furthest north ive seen one personally!

My avatar was taken at Elk. IIRC it was 2010.

Pretty sure that's not a sea otter. It's a river otter. I don't know if they eat urchins.

I've seen plenty of river otters. Even a mom and pups up in the ocean in AK.  This was a southern sea otter. Tagged in both hind feet. I'm making a SWAG and think it was one of the "boys behaving badly" otters from Monterey that got a "lift" up north. It was thoroughly accustomed to humans, getting much closer to me than the front toggle. I specifically pulled my feet into the cockpit because it was showing way too much interest in my river boots.

I absolutely do want the Grizzlies back... They play a key role in California's coastal ecosystem.

The kelp may have been "fine" in recent generations from our limited perspective, but none of us were alive back when the California coastline was truly healthy (i.e. healthy populations of Grizzlies,otters, sea stars, AND urchins).

I've looked at Thornley's avatar for years wondering about it.  While according to any literature I can find there aren't any sea otters that far north in Ca., but it sure does look like one.  Looks too big to be a river otter and in my experience river otters are much less comfortable around humans and wouldn't be likely to exhibit the behavior seen in the avatar pic.

I saw an otter at Ft. Ross recently.  Don't know which variety . . . .

I know this is a kelp thread but.....

I've seen river otters all up and down the delta, saw one in a creek about 4 ft wide near my house in Martinez (big surprise that one) I thought it was dog playing in the water till I got close and saw it munching a crawdad.  I've seen them in the Russian River near Duncans Mills. And a couple years ago I saw one in VanDamme Cove right at the beach off the parking lot, so they do get around.

By reputation and in my experience they are pretty skittish and want no part of being around or approached by humans. And they are smaller than sea otters.  They have significantly different behavior patterns too.

The only sea otters I've seen were from Moss Landing southward and in Alaska.

Sea otters north of SF now that'a an interesting thing.

http://news.ucsc.edu/2014/09/sea-otter-population.html

Jump down and read the last couple paragraphs.

It's obviously the rare Sea Beaver: builder of kelp dams between wash rocks and eater of anemones.

#savetheanemones
#bringseabeaverhatsback

Well now I know what a sea beaver is 

For every action is an equal and opposite reaction. What Charles Dickens meant when he said that was, every time an environmentalist tries to put it back the way it was, only better, shit gets screwed up. 

Dove today and kelp is flourishing.  Delete the thread Mother Nature fixed itself.   

See, dont need the otters

really. good to hear that can once again I'll be able to triangulate some of my favorite hotspots without a fish finder

For every action is an equal and opposite reaction. What Charles Dickens meant when he said that was, every time an environmentalist tries to put it back the way it was, only better, shit gets screwed up.

Even wolves?   

-Allen

For every action is an equal and opposite reaction. What Charles Dickens meant when he said that was, every time an environmentalist tries to put it back the way it was, only better, shit gets screwed up.

Even wolves?   

-Allen

By introducing wolves, the enviros indirectly support the mining industry, and directly supported the hunting and firearm industry. See, for each action, there is an equal and opposite round to chamber to shoot them wolves with. I believe Woodrow Wilson said that.

The history of Liberty is a history of resistance ..Woodrow Wilson