Watch our webinar to learn all about the missing sea otters of Oregon

Oregon doesn’t have sea otters, and it hasn’t really had a sustainable population of them since they were hunted to extinction over 100 years ago. Aside from being one of the cutest and most charismatic critters on the planet, sea otters are essential for healthy nearshore ocean ecosystems. In particular, sea otters help support kelp forests because one of their favorite foods are purple sea urchins – which love to munch on kelp. Kelp forests provide the habitat and hunting ground for countless marine species – from tiny crabs all the way to gray whales. They also help stabilize shorelines and are more effective than land forests at sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.

Sadly, without sea otters in Oregon, our kelp forests have diminished over the years because we have far too many purple sea urchins. If reintroduced, we believe that brining back sea otters to the coast could be part of the solution. Right now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether or not to move forward with a proposal to bring them back – we need to show them that the public wants to see this.

So last week, we hosted a webinar alongside the Elakha Alliance which talked all about sea otters, why they disappeared, why they’re important and what needs to happen to reintroduce them. Dozens of Oregonians attended the webinar and if you didn’t get a chance to attend, a recording of it can be viewed here.

Join us in calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to bring sea otters back.