A working group on sea otter conservation will appear in Russia

In recent years, the number of sea otters has been declining. However, at the moment there is no plan and strategy for the conservation of this species. In this regard, it was decided to create a single platform for dialogue. With its help, conservationists expect to develop a strategy for the conservation of sea otters in Russia and implement it as efficiently as possible.

The press service of the World Wildlife Fund noted that the reasons for the decline in the number of sea otters are unknown. On the islands of the Northern Kuril Islands, the population decreased from 15 thousand to just one in just a few years.

Next summer, the fund expects to organize an expedition to the Kuril Islands. A group of scientists will go from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Urup Island, making passing observations of sea otters on other islands. Specialists will study the age and sex structure of the groups, try to find out the causes of the death of the dead sea otters that they meet, study the food base of the sea otter and the underwater forests in which it lives. Funds for this expedition are collected by the Foundation as part of the annual WWF New Year's Charity campaign.