50 Years Ago Animals

50 years ago, atomic testing created otter refugees

Excerpt from the November 10, 1968, issue of Science News

sea otter

OTTERLY FANTASTIC The transfer of a few hundred sea otters from Amchitka Island in the 1960s and early 1970s helped replenish populations ravaged by hunting in southeastern Alaska, Washington and British Columbia.

Mike Baird/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By Bethany Brookshire

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Animals

  1. a woman spots a humpback whale tail
    Animals

    ‘Fathom’ seeks to unravel humpback whales’ soulful songs

    By Jake Buehler
  2. Glasswing butterfly
    Animals

    New images clarify how glasswing butterflies make their wings transparent

    By Maria Temming
  3. stream in Idaho
    Ecosystems

    As ‘phantom rivers’ roar, birds and bats change their hunting habits

    By Nikk Ogasa
  4. a group of mice that were exposed to space radiation
    Animals

    Mouse sperm thrived despite six years of exposure to space radiation

    By Maria Temming
  5. yellow canary bird sitting on a branch
    Animals

    The mere sight of illness may kick-start a canary’s immune system

    By Jonathan Lambert
  6. an elephant takes a drink from a lake
    Animals

    Newly recognized tricks help elephants suck up huge amounts of water

    By Sid Perkins
  7. Cryptochiton stelleri on the seafloor
    Animals

    The teeth of ‘wandering meatloaf’ contain a rare mineral found only in rocks

    By Charles Q. Choi
  8. gray wolf
    Animals

    Gray wolves scare deer from roads, reducing dangerous collisions

    By Jack J. Lee

From the Nature Index

Paid Content