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A Choice Outstanding Academic Title
More than any other nonhuman species, it was the sea otter that defined the world's largest oceanscape before the California gold rush. In addition to the more conventional aspects of the sea otter trade, including Russian expansion in Alaska, British and American trading in the Pacific Northwest, and Spanish colonial ventures along the California coast, the global importance of the species can be seen in its impact on the East Asian maritime fur trade. This trade linked imperial China, Japan, and indigenous Ainu peoples of the Kurile Islands as early as the fifteenth century.
In Sea Otters: A History Richard Ravalli synthesizes anew the sea otter's complex history of interaction with humans by drawing on new histories of the species that consider international and global factors beyond the fur trade, including sea mammal conservation, Cold War nuclear testing, and environmental tourism. Examining sea otters in a Pacific World context, Ravalli weaves together the story of imperial ambition, greed, and an iconic sea mammal that left a determinative imprint on the modern world.
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title
More than any other nonhuman species, it was the sea otter that defined the world's largest oceanscape before the California gold rush. In addition to the more conventional aspects of the sea otter trade, including Russian expansion in Alaska, British and American trading in the Pacific Northwest, and Spanish colonial ventures along the California coast, the global importance of the species can be seen in its impact on the East Asian maritime fur trade. This trade linked imperial China, Japan, and indigenous Ainu peoples of the Kurile Islands as early as the fifteenth century.
In Sea Otters: A History Richard Ravalli synthesizes anew the sea otter's complex history of interaction with humans by drawing on new histories of the species that consider international and global factors beyond the fur trade, including sea mammal conservation, Cold War nuclear testing, and environmental tourism. Examining sea otters in a Pacific World context, Ravalli weaves together the story of imperial ambition, greed, and an iconic sea mammal that left a determinative imprint on the modern world.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Rakkoshima, the Sea Otter Islands
2. Promyshlenniki and Padres
3. Boston Men
4. Near Extinction and Reemergence
5. Nukes, Aquaria, and Cuteness
Conclusion
Appendix: List of Vessels Engaged in the California Sea Otter
Trade, 1786–1847
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Richard Ravalli is an associate professor of history at William Jessup University.
"Cute, beloved and once exploited for their fur, sea otters have
now become an icon of conservation. How they once came close to,
and then bounced back from, extinction is a five-centuries-long
tale of international intrigue, trade, conservation and
ecotourism."—John R. Platt, Revelator
"Histories of animals continue to proliferate with the ongoing
"animal turn" in the humanities and social sciences. Ravalli's Sea
Otters: A History joins these still-swelling ranks, contributing
significantly to our understanding of the contingent nature of the
historical experiences of one animal species and human's
relationships with it. . . . Ravalli's deft reading of the history
of the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) as a history of a global Pacific,
and especially the trade in highly valued sea otter pelts,
demonstrates how global events might affect a raft of otters and
regional otter populations."—J. W. Cox, Choice
"Sea Otters is a concise, accessible book that will engage readers
interested in sea otter history."—M. Blake Butler, California
History
"Sea Otters: A History [is] a highly readable and detailed
overview of the impact of the sea otter trade on the history and
ecology of the North Pacific."—Les Beldo, H-Environment
"[Sea Otters: A History] provides readers with a fascinating
overview of the life, times and history of the smallest marine
mammal in the North Pacific Ocean. It is at once natural history,
commercial history, imperial and nation defining history, species
extinction history, conservation history and tourism/entertainment
history."—Robin Inglis, Ormsby Review
“Expertly integrating history and biology, this is the one book
that tells the full, tragic story of the sea otter from its near
extinction to its elevation to icon of cuteness. The sea
otter, as Ravalli masterfully relates, has long been at the center
of politics, conservation, and tourism in the North
Pacific. Before you visit the sea otters at a Pacific
aquarium, read this book to understand the fascinating history of
how these creatures got there, and how they very nearly did not
make it.”—Ryan Tucker Jones, associate professor of history at the
University of Oregon
“Well-researched and succinctly told, this is the story of the late
eighteenth-century sea otter trade that decimated a unique marine
species and revolutionized the Pacific Rim by introducing coastal
communities to a global capitalist system.”—Jim Hardee, editor of
The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal
“Here is the story, richly told, of how these vulnerable
mammals—the ermine of Asian markets—were pursued for their lustrous
skins and hunted to near extinction. The quest eventually generated
a rivalry between seafaring nations and Indigenous peoples along
islands and coasts from China to Mexico.”—Barry Gough, professor
emeritus of history at Wilfrid Laurier University and
author of Pax Britannica: Ruling the Waves and Keeping the Peace
before Armageddon
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