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A Wildlife Conservation SUCCESS: The Miraculous Return of Canada’s Sea Otters

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    The magnificent coastal waters
    of British Columbia
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    are home to an abundance
    of incredible marine wildlife
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    including humpback whales,
    steller sea lions,
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    orcas, porpoises, and harbour seals.
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    The BC coast is also home
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    to one of the most iconic, recognizable
    and lovable aquatic mammals:
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    the sea otter.
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    With its long whiskers
    and grizzled facial fur,
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    these endearing animals
    have fittingly earned the nickname:
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    the “old man of the sea”.
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    But despite their cute appearance
    and engaging antics,
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    sea otters have actually endured
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    a long dark history in North America,
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    once pushed to the very brink
    of extinction.
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    My name is John E. Marriott.
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    With this episode, we’re exposing you
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    to one of Canada’s great environmental
    success stories:
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    the miraculous recovery
    of the once-extirpated sea otter
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    on the BC coast.
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    (Music)
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    Sea otters are unique
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    in that they're the smallest member
    of the marine mammal family,
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    yet also the largest member
    of the weasel family.
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    Found around sheltered islands,
    reefs, fjords, and bays,
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    sea otters feed on a variety of seafood,
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    including clams, mussels,
    crabs and sea urchins.
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    It’s not uncommon for sea otters
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    to float around in the water on their back
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    with their food on their belly
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    like a picnic spread on a table,
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    and remarkably, they are
    one of the only animals in the world
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    to use tools like we do.
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    Using rocks and other objects
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    to crack open their hard-shelled food
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    to get at the yummy stuff inside.
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    Sea otters require a ton of food
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    to stay warm in the cold,
    coastal pacific waters
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    and eat up to 30%
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    of their body weight every single day.
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    Unlike other marine mammals,
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    they don’t actually have a lot of body fat
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    to insulate themselves,
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    which is why they have one
    of the thickest fur coats
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    in the animal kingdom,
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    made up of two types of hair:
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    long, sparse guard hairs
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    and feathery-soft,
    super dense warm underfur.
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    Unfortunately, it is these beautiful,
    luxurious coats
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    that are the very reason sea otters
    once vanished
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    from British Columbia
    and Canada altogether.
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    Before the fur trade began
    in the early 1800s,
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    the world’s sea otter population
    was estimated
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    at between 150,000 and 300,000 animals.
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    But by the early 1900s,
    just over a century later,
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    the population had been totally decimated
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    by our insatiable appetite for their fur
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    and less than 2,000 animals remained.
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    Eventually, the sea otter
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    disappeared from the BC Coast completely
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    The last otter shot
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    and killed off Vancouver Island in 1929.
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    The long road to recovery
    for our sea otters
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    began with the combined efforts
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    of federal, state
    and provincial governments
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    in both Canada and the United States.
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    Between 1969 and 1972,
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    89 sea otters from Alaska
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    were released in Checleset Bay
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    off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
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    Amazingly, this reintroduced population
    prospered almost immediately
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    in the superb coastal habitat
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    and by 1996,
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    had doubled more than four times
    to over 1500 otters.
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    The stunning initial success
    of the reintroduction
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    led the federal government
    to downgrade the sea otters’ status
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    as a species at risk
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    from ‘endangered’ to ‘threatened’.
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    By 2004, the population had
    expanded even more dramatically,
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    with sea otters found as far south
    as Vargas Island in Clayoquot Sound,
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    as far north as the northern tip
    of Vancouver Island, at Cape Scott,
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    and as far east as Hope Island
    in Queen Charlotte Strait.
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    Today, sea otters have expanded
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    even further afield in British Columbia
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    and their status has been downgraded
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    from a ‘threatened’ species
    to one of ‘special concern’.
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    Their continued recovery and expansion
    on the West Canadian coast
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    is now considered to be
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    one of the most successful mammal
    reintroductions in Canadian history!
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    But this astonishing success story
    doesn’t end there:
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    sea otters are known
    as a ‘keystone species’
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    meaning that even a small number of them
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    can have a dramatic effect
    on shaping healthy ecosystems.
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    If we look back at when sea otters
    were eradicated,
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    rocks and reefs quickly became overrun
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    with dense populations of sea urchins
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    and these sea urchins in turn wiped out
    the kelp forests
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    that are so critical
    to our ocean’s health,
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    essentially removing
    this ‘rainforest of the sea’
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    so-called because of
    the kelp forests’ ability
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    to provide food, shelter, oxygen
    and a nursery environment
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    for a wide variety of sea life.
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    So with sea otters reintroduced
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    and reoccupying their former habitat
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    and resuming their crucial role
    in the ecology of BC’s coastal ecosystems,
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    the environmental spin-off
    has been remarkable:
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    the out-of-control sea urchin populations
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    have been brought back under control,
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    and the kelp forests have returned
    and flourished,
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    completely reshaping our coast
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    in a wonderful way.
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    Despite the success
    of their reintroduction,
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    sea otters continue to face
    a number of threats.
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    The most serious is
    from environmental contaminants
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    like oil spills.
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    Oil spills are catastrophic for sea otters
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    their fur loses its buoyancy
    and insulating capabilities
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    and the otters end up dying from exposure.
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    Those otters that do survive initially,
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    end up inhaling and ingesting oil
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    when they groom their oil-slicked fur
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    causing even more deaths.
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    Not surprisingly,
    the sea otter populations
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    took almost three decades to recover
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    from the Exxon-Valdez
    spill off the coast of Alaska.
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    For these reasons
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    it's critical that we continue
    to protect sea otter habitat
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    and continue to monitor and reduce
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    the risk of oil spills along the BC coast.
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    Thanks for watching everyone,
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    we really appreciate the support!
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    Please let us know what you thought
    about the episode
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    in the comments below,
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    and don’t forget to subscribe
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    and click that little notification bell
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    so you don't miss our next episode
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    Thanks everyone, see you soon!
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    Margarida Ferreira's captions
    (november-2023)
Title:
A Wildlife Conservation SUCCESS: The Miraculous Return of Canada’s Sea Otters
Description:

EXPOSED is back with one FINAL episode of the show as you know it (more about that on March 3rd, 2020), and this time we’re exposing you to one of Canada’s greatest environmental success stories, the miraculous recovery of the Canadian sea otter from near extinction! Join John for a thrilling wildlife conservation success story that will have you grinning from ear to ear at the engaging antics of the adorable otters. Let us know what you think and please feel free to ‘Share’!

And if you enjoy our content, don’t forget to Subscribe to our Channel and click the Notification ‘bell’ to ensure you get an update when we publish new episodes:

https://bit.ly/2TMcueS

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EXPOSED with John E. Marriott is the culmination of his life’s work — a documentary-style, no-holds-barred web series in which John profiles his favourite locations and subjects, shares tips and how-to's for aspiring photographers, and tackles the important and controversial issues in wildlife conservation.

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Video Language:
English
Team:
Amplifying Voices
Project:
Wildlife Protection
Duration:
05:58

English subtitles

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