Killer Whale Predation on Sea Otters Linking Oceanic and Nearshore Ecosystems

1998/10/16 by James A. Estes, M. Tim Tinker, Terrie M. Williams +1 · 21 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Marine and coastal plant biology #Marine animal studies overview #Cephalopods and Marine Biology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.282.5388.473

openalex publication_date 1998/10/16 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

After nearly a century of recovery from overhunting, sea otter populations are in abrupt decline over large areas of western Alaska. Increased killer whale predation is the likely cause of these declines. Elevated sea urchin density and the consequent deforestation of kelp beds in the nearshore community demonstrate that the otter's keystone role has been reduced or eliminated. This chain of interactions was probably initiated by anthropogenic changes in the offshore oceanic ecosystem.

Citations

• Community Structure, Population Control, and Competition
• Food Web Complexity and Community Dynamics
• Toward an Integration of Landscape and Food Web Ecology: The Dynamics of Spatially Subsidized Food Webs

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• Trophic Cascades in a Formerly Cod-Dominated Ecosystem
• Homogenization of Freshwater Faunas
• Future Directions in Sea Otter Research and Management
• The Use of Quantitative Models in Sea Otter Conservation
• CLAMMING UP: ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES DIMINISH THE PERCEPTIVE ABILITY OF BIVALVE PREY
• Marine food web [wikipedia]
• Marine mammal [wikipedia]