otection from hunting allowed a steady recovery, and many areas of their historic range had thriving populations by the early 1970s. Estes and other researchers studying the species' recovery documented its importance in the coastal ecosystem by comparing areas with and without healthy sea otter populations.

One of the important implications of the current study, as far as ecologists are concerned, is the linkage between the coastal ecosystem and events and species seemingly far removed from it. The transient presence of killer whales, driven to prey on sea otters by changes in the open ocean, has affected the entire structure of the coastal ecosystem.

If overfishing is indeed at the root of these changes, the implications for fisheries management are profound, Estes said.

"This case provides a potential example of how far-reaching the effects can be from overexploitation of fisheries, extending into areas where you would never expect to see impacts," he said.

In addition to Estes and Williams, the authors of the Science paper include Tim Tinker, who worked on the project as a biologist with Glenside Ecological Services in British Columbia and is now a graduate student in biology at UCSC, and Daniel Doak, Pepper-Giberson Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at UCSC.

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Contact: Tim Stephens
stephens@cats.ucsc.edu
831-459-2495
University of California - Santa Cruz
15-Oct-1998

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