I've pasted the letter below with the names of the current list of signators. Dear Marmam members, We are on the home stretch for providing written comments on the Draft SEIS for the Southern Sea Otter Translocation Program (DSEIS). The public comment deadline has been extended until March 6, 2006. A coalition of groups that are working on drafting comments (Defenders of Wildlife, The Ocean Conservancy, Friends of the Sea Otter, Sea Otter Defense Initiative, a project of Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project, and The Humane Society of the United States) thought it would be good to circulate a letter to get sign-ons for this very critical policy issue for southern sea otter recovery. Currently we have 42 signatures and we would love to get, at a minimum 100. So, we at least need 58 more names. Please let me know (all of my contact information is below this letter): your name, title, affiliation if you would like to sign on to this letter. We thank those of you who signed the letter! If you would like to sign on, please let me know by February 28th (three weeks from today). If you have any interest in reviewing any of the SEIS before agreeing to sign on, please visit: http://www.fws.gov/ventura/es/SSOrecplan/seaotter_index.html Thanks, Jim Curland, Marine Program Associate Defenders of Wildlife LETTER FROM CONCERNED SCIENTISTS February XX, 2006 or March XX, 2006 Diane Noda Field Supervisor U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office 2493 Portola Road, Suite B Ventura, California 93003-7726 Dear Diane Noda: We applaud the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) preferred alternative presented in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) on the translocation of southern sea otters. The DSEIS represents an important and scientifically responsible step toward successfully recovering the southern sea otter. In the final SEIS and proposed regulations to implement it, we strongly urge the FWS to implement the preferred alternative of terminating the Southern Sea Otter translocation program, ending the no-otter management zone south of Pt. Conception, and allowing the sea otters currently residing south of Pt. Conception, including sea otters residing around San Nicolas Island (SNI), to remain. This action will allow sea otters to move freely and naturally expand their range, which will help ensure this species' survival and recovery. Historically, the southern sea otter could be found all along the California coast and into Baja California, likely numbering 16,000 in the 1800s. Fur traders then killed almost all southern sea otters, with only a few dozen surviving in a remote cove off of Big Sur. They were declared threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1977, and today there are about 2,500 sea otters along our coast. Sea otters are the classic example of a keystone species. Sea otters allow for a natural check in the nearshore ecosystem by keeping populations of invertebrate grazers, such as sea urchins, from overtaking the system and denuding the kelp forests. The near-extinction of sea otters along the California coast altered the coastal ecosystem; bringing back sea otters throughout their range represents a critical step to restoring coastal ecosystems--creating healthy kelp forests and diverse populations of fish and invertebrate species. In 1987, the FWS began a translocation program to establish a new colony of southern sea otters on SNI in an attempt to protect the species from a catastrophic event (e.g. oil spill) and ultimately restore their dwindling numbers off the coast of California. Out of the original 140 sea otters translocated from 1987-1990 to SNI, just over 30 remain at the island today. The others either died or swam away and three years after the translocation program ended in 1990, there were fewer than 25 sea otters at SNI. While the population at SNI has shown some signs of recruitment, it is far from the predicted viable population that FWS estimated at between 150-500 sea otters. In addition, capturing and transporting sea otters tends to be unsuccessful because typically the sea otter is harmed or simply swims back to its initial location. For example, between 1987 and 1993, 24 sea otters were moved, 4 of those animals died. Also introducing a new sea otter into an already existing group of sea otters may disrupt the established social hierarchy of that group. Because moving sea otters places them at risk, the FWS and the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Team concluded that moving otters and impeding natural range expansion southward is likely to jeopardize the species' continued existence. The southern sea otter translocation program has failed to meet its objective of establishing a viable, independent colony of sea otters to serve as a safeguard for the population, as a whole, in the event of a natural or human-caused event. The recovery and management goals for southern sea otters cannot be met by continuing the program. Given that in the last ten years, the southern sea otter population has exhibited periods of growth and decline, and is still listed as threatened under the ESA, we are especially pleased to see the FWS recommendation to both protect and allow the sea otters currently in the translocation and management zones to remain. Implementation of the preferred alternative in the DSEIS will ensure a sustainable sea otter population and will allow sea otters to expand their range. We strongly urge you to finalize the SEIS and to implement the preferred alternative Sincerely, Peter Adam Graduate Student University of California, Los Angeles Christine Alfano Graduate Student University of Minnesota Marci Allen Instructor Birch Aquarium Homero Aridjiis President Grupo de los Cien Internacional/Mexico Stefan Austermühle Executive Director Asociacion Mundo Azul/Lima, Peru Sarah Barry, MSc Marine Team Melissa Batka Marine Mammal Education and Research Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Ilana Bismuth, MSc President Faune § Etude/France Rachel Cartwright Professor California State University, Channel Islands Don Croll, PhD Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California, Santa Cruz/Center for Ocean Health Daphna Feingold Committee Member, Israeli Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center Dept. of Marine Civilizations, University of Haifa, Israel Amanda Harris Marine Mammal Education and Research Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Jim Harvey, PhD Professor Moss Landing Marine Laboratories Kara Johnson Graduate Student College of the Atlantic Caroline Karp Chair, National Committee on Marine Wildlife and Habitat Sierra Club Carol Keiper Marine Biologist Dan H Kerem, PhD President Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center/ The Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies/The University of Haifa Tom Kieckhefer Research Associate Pacific Cetacean Group Marcy Kober Education Curator The Whale Museum/Friday Harbor, WA Shawn Larson, PhD Curator of Animal Health and Research Seattle Aquarium Nina Mak Graduate Student Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy Karen Martin, PhD Professor, Frank R. Seaver Chair of Biology Pepperdine University/Malibu, CA Katherine Maze-Foley Fisheries Biologist III IAP Worldwide Services/NOAA Fisheries, Pascagoula Laboratory, MS Katherine McHugh Graduate Student University of California, Davis Thomas Norris Senior Scientist / Marine Vertebrate Biologist Science Applications International Corp. John Ogden, PhD Professor of Biology University of South Florida Diana Reiss Senior Research Scientist New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Columbia University Alicia Retes Museum "Whaler"/Whale Watching San Diego Natural History Museum Cynthia Reyes Stranding Coordinator California Wildlife Center Wendy Ritger Environmental Scientist TEC, Inc. Naomi Rose Marine Mammal Scientist The Humane Society of the United States William W. Rossiter President Cetacean Society International John Sorenson President Ocean Network Communications Ryan Uulff Graduate Student Scripps Institute of Oceanography Marie-Francoise Van Bressem, DVM, PhD Head, Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), CEPEC/Germany Scott Veirs, PhD President Beam Reach Marine Science and Sustainability School Frank Veit, PhD Director International Laboratory for Dolphin Behaviour Research/Israel Jo Wharam Project Officer Durlston Marine Project/UK Robert Wilson The Marine Mammal Center George M. Woodwell, PhD Director Emeritus The Woods Hole Research Center Erika Zollett Marine Mammal Scientist Ocean Process and Analysis Laboratory/Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space/University of New Hampshire -- Jim Curland, Marine Program Associate Defenders of Wildlife P.O. Box 959 Moss Landing, CA. 95039 831-726-9010 (phone) 831-726-9020 (fax) jcurland@defenders.org Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities. We focus our programs on what scientists consider two of the most serious environmental threats to the planet: the accelerating rate of extinction of species and the associated loss of biological diversity, and habitat alteration and destruction. Long known for our leadership on endangered species issues, Defenders of Wildlife also advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that will help keep species from becoming endangered. Our programs encourage protection of entire ecosystems and interconnected habitats while protecting predators that serve as indicator species for ecosystem health. http://www.defenders.org http://www.kidsplanet.org http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/seaotters.html (Defenders' Main Sea Otter Page) http://www.kidsplanet.org/espanol/espint.html (Defenders' Sea Otter Teaching Unit) http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/marine.html (Defenders' Marine Program Page) http://www.defenders.org/california/marine.html (Defenders' California Marine Program Page)