Exploitation of Sea Otters
by Holly Blumenshine
The Sea Otter lives in shallow waters along the beaches of theNorth Pacific Ocean. They belong to the weasel family and areoften called marine mammals. They can weight up to 100 pounds.There warm fur is good to make clothes,blankets,and a lot more.
The Sea Otters once extended as far as California and KamchatkaPeninsula. In 1742 Vitus Bering's men hunted and killed most ofthe Sea Otters. As soon as Russians came to what is now knownas Alaska they made a lining off of killing Sea Otters and othersea animals.
In 1867 after the Sea Otters had diminished, Alaska was sold tothe UNITED STATES of AMERICA. Hunting of Sea Otters grew,and thenumber of Sea Otters decline. In 1911 the U.S.A. made a treatysaying it was illegal to hunt the Sea Otters. They called thistreaty,"The Fur Sea Treaty". This treaty was signedby Russia, Japan, Great Britain, and the U.S.A..
In 1991, 16,000 Sea Otters inhabited parts of the Prince WilliamsSound.Over 1,000 Sea Otters died because of the Exxon Valdez oilspill. But some observations have shown that they are slowly recovering.Sea Otters are very sensitive to oil spills because of their fursand lifestyle.
There used to be a company that paid anywhere from 10-120 dollarsfor Sea Otter skins, but no native was allowed to sell the skins,only whites. Only natives with very good skins got from 40-70dollars. People who were white got from 80-125 dollars for thesame quality of skins.
Sea Otter intestines
(picture taken from display at the
Anchorage Museum of History and Art)
In 1903 Sea Otters skins valued as much as 1,125 dollars atLondon markets. The insides of the Otter were used to make coatsor other clothing. The Sea Otter was the most expensive resourceback then, but they were and still are beautiful creatures.
