Oregon Zoo Celebrates Sea Otter Awareness Week

Conservation partners help bring attention to sea otters and their critical role

 PORTLAND, Ore. — Otter lovers, take note! The Oregon Zoo is celebrating Sea Otter Awareness Week this week, with activities aimed at showcasing these playful marine mammals and highlighting their critical role in the North Pacific ecosystem.

At 12:45 p.m. each day, guests can stop by the marine life area to watch the zoo’s three resident sea otters — Juno, Lincoln and Uni Sushi — scarf down sustainable-seafood treats and participate in training sessions.

On Tuesday through Thursday, Sept. 20-22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., sea otter scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be on hand to speak with guests near the otters’ habitat. On Tuesday, they will be joined by Elakha Alliance conservationists, who will discuss current efforts to reintroduce sea otters in Oregon.

Though once abundant along the Oregon coast, sea otters were hunted to extinction here in the early 1900s and have not established permanent residence in the state for more than a century. They are considered a keystone species in the Pacific Coast marine ecosystem, promoting healthy kelp forests, which in turn support thousands of organisms from gray whales to salmon

“Sea otters are famously cute and charismatic, but they’re also incredibly important to the health of our marine ecosystems,” senior marine life keeper Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey said. “Bringing them back to our coast would benefit all Oregonians, and we’re excited for our community to learn how they can help this historic effort become a reality.”

All of the Oregon Zoo’s resident sea otters are rescue animals, orphaned as tiny pups off the coast of California. Lacking the skills to survive on their own, they were first brought to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s rescue and release program but were deemed non-releasable by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

To learn more about the Oregon Zoo’s sea otters and how to help protect sea otters in the wild, visit oregonzoo.org/discover/animals/sea-otter. For more information on Sea Otter Awareness Week, visit defenders.org/sea-otter-awareness-week.

As part of the Metro family, the Oregon Zoo helps make greater Portland a great place to call home. Committed to conservation, the zoo is working to save endangered California condors, northwestern pond turtles, Oregon silverspot and Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies, and northern leopard frogs. To learn more, visit oregonzoo.org/recovery.

Support from the Oregon Zoo Foundation enhances and expands the zoo’s efforts in conservation, education and animal welfare. Members, donors and corporate and foundation partners help the zoo make a difference across the region and around the world. To contribute, go to oregonzoo.org/donate.

To plan your trip, go to oregonzoo.org/visit. For more information on getting to the zoo, visit Explore Washington Park.