วงAn animal forages optimally when it spends least time and energy finding its food. Sea otters Enhydra lutris preying on clams in Elkhorn Slough, California exemplify this strategy. Here, otters preferentially attack gaper clams Tresus nuttallii and Washington clams Saxidomus nuttallii in an area where burrow depths in a sand/silt sediment layer are restricted by a deeper well-consolidated layer of clay (20-28cm depth), over clams in a nearby population where the clay layer is covered by deeper sediments (28-40cm). Clams comprise over 60% of the otters’ diet in this area.
To catch a clam the otters excavate conical pits measuring up to 6m2 in area and 30-50cm deep. Even though the clams are much smaller than ones living in the nearby deeper sediments, the otters prefer the shallow-dwelling clams because they are quicker and easier to dig up. By feeding on the shallow-dwelling population, the otters gain almost twice the clam biomass per volume of sediment excavated, thus maximising prey yield per time and effort expended. Based on counts of prey remains in the Elkhorn Slough area during the period of their study, the authors calculate that 10 sea otters each of 25kg live mass could eat 25,000 clams over a 2-5mo period. Although this seems a large figure, at the time of the study the otters were actually not making much of an impact on the clam populations because of the enormous density of the bivalves. Kvitek et al. 1988 Mar Biol 98: 157.
NOTE over the 1-yr study period the sea-otter population varies from about 10-20 individuals in summer, to 0 individials in winter
NOTE an earlier report of sea otters feeding on clams in the Monterey Bay area (Moss Landing) shows that pismo clams Tivela stultorum are also eaten. In one study, densities of large clams (>4cm shell length) are reported to decrease from 6 individuals . m-2 to 0.5 individuals . m-2 over an 18mo period. One individual otter is noted as eating 24 clams (average size 10cm) and 2 mole crabs in 2h 15min. Based on dietary requirements and counts of sea otters in the area, Enhydra could eat as many as 700,000 pismo clams annually in the Monterey Bay area. Stephenson 1977 Cal Fish Game 63: 117