Sea Otter Awareness Day

All About Otters!

Joining us for an otter themed day event? The Oregon Coast Aquarium celebrates International Sea Otter Day and Sea Otter Awareness Week every year. See below for general information, and join us closer to either day event for specifics about activities, talks, and more!

What's Going On?

Join us on Saturday, September 26 for Sea Otter Awareness day special otter chats, a behind the scenes peek at our otter habitats, and lots of other activities and tables throughout the Aquarium!

Otter Feed

10:30 - 10:45pm • Otter Exhibit
Otter Feed

1:00 - 1:15pm • Otter Exhibit
Behind the Scenes Sneak Peek

1:15pm - 1:45pm • Blue Gate by Estuary Deck
Open to all guests
Otter Feed – Special Foraging Feed

3:00 - 3:15pm • Otter Exhibit
Watch our otters forage feed on main habitat, learn how our mammalogists use ethograms, and join in to record a sea otter’s dive and surface time! Download an ethogram sheet ahead of time to follow along!

*schedule is subject to change. Check back closer to the day-of for more updated details!

Otterly Important

Although they may appear to be a simple ball of fuzz, sea otters are a “keystone” species that maintain the balance of marine ecosystems. By feeding on urchins, sea otters prevent the overgrazing of kelp—allowing kelp forests and their inhabitants to flourish. Best of all—they get a tasty meal out of it!

Otters at the Aquarium

The Aquarium’s three sea otters were rescued after being injured or abandoned as pups in California. “Sea otters were hunted near to extinction during the fur trade, and while their populations are slowly coming back in Alaska, Washington and California, we have not seen sea otters return to Oregon,” said Brittany Blades, Curator of Mammals at the Aquarium. “Sea Otter Awareness Day teaches people what they can do to help sea otters have a welcome home in Oregon. Come meet a mammalogist to ask all of your otter know questions!”

Learn firsthand how the Aquarium staff train, feed and care for Oswald, Schuster, and Earle during live presentations! You can enjoy during your next visit, or from the comfort of home via our live cameras. Or sign up for a behind the scenes tour and get a glimpse of what goes in to sea otter husbandry! Learn all about what goes into their care, from sustainably-sourced, restaurant-quality seafood preparation to the enormous collection of enrichment items that keep these mischievous marine mammals too busy to get into trouble.

Sea Otter Awareness Day

All About Otters!

What's Going On?

Otter Feed

Otter Feed

Behind the Scenes Sneak Peek

Otter Feed – Special Foraging Feed

Otterly Important

Otters at the Aquarium

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