. The Eastern Bering Sea Shelf : oceanography and resources / edited by Donald W. Hood and John A. Calder. Oceanography Bering Sea otters 843 high, medium, or low density on the basis of the strip count (Fig. 51-4). Observed densities averaged sea otters/km^ in high-, ^ in medium-, and ^ in lov^^-density areas. Since only the sea otters at the surface of the water were counted on the survey, actual densities probably were higher. The distribution shown in Fig. 51-4 is typical of the situation on 30 and 31 July 1976; it may not be generally typical, for somewhat different
. The Eastern Bering Sea Shelf : oceanography and resources / edited by Donald W. Hood and John A. Calder. Oceanography Bering Sea otters 843 high, medium, or low density on the basis of the strip count (Fig. 51-4). Observed densities averaged sea otters/km^ in high-, ^ in medium-, and ^ in lov^^-density areas. Since only the sea otters at the surface of the water were counted on the survey, actual densities probably were higher. The distribution shown in Fig. 51-4 is typical of the situation on 30 and 31 July 1976; it may not be generally typical, for somewhat different distribu- tions have been observed in previous surveys. This population is more mobile than those occupying rocky coastal habitats; it disperses widely off- shore. Whereas configurations of shoreline, offshore islands, and rocks appear to exert strong influence on the distribution of sea otters in most other areas, there is relatively little relationship with those fea- tures in this area, except in Bechevin Bay. Occa- sionally small pods have been seen near Amak Island, but that is not usually a high-density area. Some- times large numbers have been concentrated near shore; at other times low densities were found near shore and high densities 15-30 km offshore. The distribution on 30 and 31 July 1976 probably is intermediate between those extremes. There ap- peared to be two separate areas of high density, roughly separated by a line between Amak Island and Cold Bay. This kind of separation has been observed in earlier surveys and may reflect varying quality of the habitat. Water depth seems to influence the distribution of sea otters in southwestern Bristol Bay more than the shoreline. Throughout much of this area, the outer edge of high-density aireas closely conformed to the 40-m isobath, and the edge of the medium density conformed to the 60-m isobath. Sea otters north- east of Amak Island were distributed slightly farther offshore, with medium densities extending to the
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