View full sizeZoo and aquarium visitors can learn all about sea otters next week.A handful of engaging, athletic, whiskered beasts take the spotlight at the
and the
during Sea Otter Awareness Week, Sept. 23-29.
Zoo visitors who stop by the
at 11:30 a.m. each of those days can hear keeper talks and watch as the zoo's two sea otters, Thelma and Eddie, enjoy treats or gracefully swim through their paces during training sessions.
Aquarium visitors can watch sea otter feeds and learn about their natural history.
The aquarium also plans a free screening of the documentary film
at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Call 541-867-3474, ext. 5301, Monday through Friday, or email [email protected].
The film chronicles the rescue and rearing of an orphaned otter younger than a week old when she washed ashore on the Northern California coast. In the
, she was reared by an adoptive sea otter mother, developing skills she'd need to survive in the wild.
Scientists estimate that up to 300,000 sea otters ranged across the North Pacific until the mid-1700s, when fur traders discovered a rich market for their luxuriously soft pelts; trappers devastated the species. Trapping continued off Oregon until 1906.
The species is protected now, but still threatened by pollution, oil spills, fishing nets and infectious disease, according to the zoo.
Though they no longer have established colonies off the Oregon coast, a few sea otters have been spotted in Depoe Bay and elsewhere.
Sea Otter Awareness Week was created in 2003 by
, a nonprofit that works to protect species in their native communities. Events aim to educate people about the keystone species, which plays a critical role in the marine ecosystem by promoting healthy kelp forests, which support thousands of organisms.
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