When visiting this habitat, linger for a moment and consider this fact: you are looking at the largest population of sea otters in the state of Oregon. This species was hunted to extinction in the Oregon wild over a century ago, with the last known individual being killed just off the Newport Beach in 1907. The economic value of the sea otter extends back to the very beginning of our nation.
When explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reached the Oregon coast on their famous cross-continent journey, they traded blue beads, a vest and a knife with the local Native Americans in order to procure the warm and durable otter skins. With the westward expansion of pioneers, sea otters were widely targeted by trappers throughout the United States and Canada. Within decades, the otter’s survival was seriously imperiled all along the Pacific coast.
Their unique pelts, which contain up to a million hairs per square inch, provide such good insulation that the otter does not require a layer of blubber to retain body heat as you would find in whales, sea lions and seals.
