Questions and answers about the amateur use of carbon fiber epoxy composites for bicycle frame construction, taken largely from my e-mail correspondence. Tip: In most operating systems, pressing Ctrl+F will bring up the Find (On this page) dialogue box.
Sea Otter. The sea otter is the largest member of the weasel family and the smallest marine mammal. Ninety percent of the worldâs sea otters live in coastal Alaska. The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects sea otters. It prohibits commercial harvest of sea otters, and allows Alaska natives to hunt sea otters for subsistence and creation of handicrafts. Sea otters were hunted nearly to extinction in the late 1700s and 1800s through commercial harvest for their luxurious furs. Once commercial harvest ceased, sea otter numbers rebounded and they re-colonized much of their former range. Sea otter numbers have declined in southwestern Alaska over the past 20 years.
Predation by Killer Whales is one factor that is believed to have caused Sea Otter population declines across the Western Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands (Doroff et al. 2003, Estes et al. 1998, Hatfield et al. 1998).