A researcher at the University of Rhode Island has observed gray wolves doing something unexpected on an Alaskan island.

What's happening?

According to the University of Rhode Island, PhD student Patrick Bailey has observed gray wolves hunting sea otters, which represents a significant behavioral shift. 

Wolves serve a vital role in land-based ecosystems; as apex predators, they help to keep prey species numbers under control and regulate food webs. But their eating and hunting habits along the coast have long been a mystery to researchers. 

Now, Bailey has evidence that they hunt a species they weren't previously known to hunt, leading to more questions about how and why they do it. 

Why is wolves hunting otters concerning?

Sea otters are endangered along the west coast of North America. The fur trade saw them overhunted to the point of extinction, but conservation efforts have helped their numbers return to safer levels. 

That wolves appear to have begun hunting them is a sign that their population is stabilizing enough that they are on the radar as prey, and researchers think it might be the resumption of a previous behavior. 

Bailey is using a combination of trail cameras and tooth analysis to learn more about coastal gray wolves' hunting habits. 

"We don't have a clear understanding of the connections between water and land food webs, but we suspect that they are much more prevalent than previously understood," Bailey said.

"Since wolves can alter land ecosystems so dramatically, it is possible that we will see similar patterns in aquatic habitats."

What's being done about wolves' hunting habits?

Bailey and Sarah Kienle, a professor at Rhode Island's CEAL Lab in the Department of Natural Resource Science, hope to use improved, higher-resolution cameras to capture exactly how wolves go about hunting otters, and whether that hunting extends to other sea creatures as well. 

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"What hasn't been explored, and what I am really interested in documenting, is how exactly wolves are able to capture sea otters," Bailey said.

With a team of students helping to analyze trail camera images and tooth data, they hope to make a breakthrough to better understand the role wolves play in the coastal ecosystem. 

"Capturing and eating prey in the marine environment is very different from doing it on land," said Kienle. "We are super curious to see if these coastal wolves have behavioral adaptations that are different from terrestrial wolves."

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