Sea Otters: A History

215 Pages·2018·15.748 MB·English

by  Richard Ravalli

S E A O T T E R S
Studies in Pacific Worlds
Series Editors
Rainer F. Buschmann
Katrina Gulliver
Editorial Board
Gregory Cushman
John Gascoigne
Andrea Geiger
Noriko Kawamura
Judith Schachter
Sea
A HISTORY
Otters
Richard Ravalli
University of Nebraska Press • Lincoln and London
© 2018 by the Board of Regents of
the University of Nebraska
Acknowledgments for the use of copyrighted
material appear on page xii, which constitutes
an extension of the copyright page.
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Ravalli, Richard, author.
Title: Sea otters: a history / Richard Ravalli.
Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, [2018] | Series: Studies in Pacific worlds |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2018003978
isbn 9780803284401 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn 9781496212184 (epub)
isbn 9781496212191 (mobi)
isbn 9781496212207 (pdf)
Subjects: lcsh: Sea otter— Pacific Area— History. |
Sea otter populations— Pacific Area— History. | Sea
otter—C onservation—P acific Area—H istory.
Classification: lcc ql737.c25 r395 2018 |
ddc 333.95/97695— dc23 lc record available
at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2018003978
Set in New Baskerville ITC by Mikala R. Kolander.
Designed by N. Putens.
for my wife, Lisa, daughters, Rachel and Sarah, Mom, Dad,
family, and students, who all kept me afloat

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1. Rakkoshima, the Sea Otter Islands xxv
2. Promyshlenniki and Padres 21
3. Boston Men 47
4. Near Extinction and Reemergence 77
5. Nukes, Aquaria, and Cuteness 103
Conclusion 125
Appendix: List of Vessels Engaged in the California
Sea Otter Trade, 1786– 1847 127
Notes 141
Bibliography 161
Index 179

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Steller’s sea otter from De bestiis marinis xx
2. Woodblock of Ainu hunting sea otters 5
3. Woodblock of Aleuts hunting sea otters 18
4. Painting of a sea otter from George Shaw’s
Musei Leveriani Explication 29
5. Map from Pedro Calderón y Henríquez manuscript 31
6. Graph of Russian sea otter pelt exports from the
Russian North Pacific, 1742–1797 42
7. Graph of California sea otter pelt exports, 1786–1847 42
8. Painting of “Enhydra marina” by John Woodhouse Audubon 76
9. Painting of the schooner Cygnet 80
10. Dead sea otter near Oyhut, Washington 85
11. California wardens with pup 102
12. Robert “Sea Otter” Jones with sea otter 106
13. Sea otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium 116