Zoo to celebrate Sea Otter Awareness Week

You otter not miss this! The Oregon Zoo is celebrating Sea Otter Awareness Week next week, with activities aimed at showcasing these playful marine mammals and highlighting their critical role in the North Pacific ecosystem.

Guests can stop by the Oregon Zoo marine life area Sept, 23-27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., for otter-themed games and a chance to chat with zoo staff and volunteers. Keeper talks take place at 12:45 p.m. each day, with a chance to watch the zoo's three resident sea otters - Juno, Lincoln and Uni Sushi - scarf down sustainable-seafood treats and participate in training sessions.

And on Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Elakha Alliance conservationists will be on hand to 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 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/animals/sea-otter. For more information on Sea Otter Awareness Week, visit defenders.org/sea-otter-awareness-week.