Sea Otter Hunting

Sea Otter Hunting. Soft Gold. , Aleut Hunters , The first kayakers in these waters were hunters brought to California from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. In the early 19th century Native American Aleuts, forced to hunt under the banner of the Russian-American Company, harpooned sea otters all along the West Coast of North America - including here in the Santa Barbara Channel. Russian ships transported the Aleuts and their kayaks to the Channel Islands, which served as base camps for hunting forays. , , Competition for valuable otter pelts was fierce, and clashes between the Aleut and the native people of this region had dire consequences. In 1811, Aleuts killed many of the Nicoleño, the indigenous people of San Nicolas Island, reportedly in a dispute over hunting rights. The Aleuts also clashed with local Chumash people hunting otters for the Spanish. , , Tools of the Trade , The Aleut igyak, also known by the Russian name, baidarka, was made of a light driftwood frame covered with stretched seal hide. A two-bladed paddle provided maneuverability and speed. Hunting weapons were lashed to the top of the kayak, ready when needed. Hunters wore wooden visors, decorated with sea lion whiskers, to shade their eyes from glare, and a long waterproof garment folded and tied down over the hatch to keep water out of the kayak. , , Prized Pelts , Luxuriously soft and dense, sea otter pelts were “soft gold.” Demand for otter pelts led to mass harvesting up and down the west coast of North America. British and and American ship captains joined the lucrative fur trade, either buying pelts or hiring hunters to procure them. In 1785 the British ship Sea Otter traded with Nootka Chief Maquinna of Vancouver Island, Canada and acquired more than 500 sea otter pelts. The region became a prime trade area, visited by British and American vessels. , , Hunted to the Brink , Beginning in the 1740s, decades of relentless slaughter killed tens of thousands of sea otters and drove the population to the very brink of extinction. Otter populations have increased under protection, but their numbers are still only a fraction of their historic population.