THE AMERICAN CETACEAN SOCIETY/LOS ANGELES CHAPTER INVITES ALL MEMBERS AND WELCOMES THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO THIS MONTH’S MEETING ON TUES., NOV. 25, 2003 AT 7:30 P.M. AT THE CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM:

"Will Sea Otters Return to Southern California?" by Greg Sanders The southern or California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) is the worlds smallest marine mammal, and was hunted to the very brink of extinction. The population has slowly grown to just under 2,400 animals in 1995, but then crashed to about 1,700 in 2000. Extensive conservation efforts included a translocation of 140 otters to San Nicolas Island in the late 1980s to protect the population from a catastrophic accident. Not only was the translocation effort a failure, but recently significant numbers of otters have been venturing south of Point Conception, an area declared a "no otter" zone in the management plan. In April of this year, the USFWS released a "Final Revised Recovery Plan For Threatened Southern Sea Otter" just ahead of the annual census that showed a population increase for the first time in several years. Greg Sanders has been working with sea otters for more than 15 years and he is currently the Fish and Wildlife Services southern sea otter recovery coordinator. He will discuss efforts to recover this threatened species and the southern sea otter translocation program. The presentation will also include video clips of recent sea otter research and capture operations. The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is located at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro. ACS/LA general meetings are free and are held on the last Tuesday of the month. For an update on the speaker or information about ACS/LA, call (310) 548-8500, or visit our website at http://www.acs-la.org Come and meet our speaker in the relaxed surroundings of the Baja Cabana restaurant at our no-host dinner before the meeting. Dinner is at 6 p.m., at 1622 S. Gaffey St. (at 17th St.) in San Pedro. (310) 833-9765. UPCOMING EVENTS Saturday, January 31, 2004 Super WhaleWatch Trip - For more info call Penni Jo at 562-437-4376 Saturday, March 20, 2004 Floating Fiesta Trip - come help us celebrate our 25th Anniversary. For more info call Penni Jo at 562-437-4376 Saturday, July 10, 2004 Summer Blue and Humpback Whale Trip - More info to follow