Oregon Coast Aquarium Launches Operation Otter Awareness

The Aquarium’s regular line-up of sea otter-related education is in full swing!

Oswald the sea otter pup with a butter clam at the Oregon Coast Aquarium - Credit Brent McWhirter

(NEWPORT, Ore. ) - The Oregon Coast Aquarium’s resident sea otters, Judge, 14, Schuster, 3, Nuka, 1 and Oswald, 10 months, will co-host over a dozen educational activities on Saturday, September 27 when the Oregon Coast Aquarium celebrates Sea Otter Awareness Week.

The Aquarium hopes the effort will help stamp sea otters’ place at the forefront of Oregonians’ hearts and minds. These marine members of the weasel family play a vital role in nearshore coastal ecosystems. Sea otters, Enhydra lutris, are currently considered extinct off Oregon’s coast and are listed under the Endangered Species Act in their existing range.

Visitors will be greeted with sea otter-themed jokes, facts and original art as they explore the Aquarium’s exhibits. Guests will be able to touch real pelts and bones to learn how sea otters stay warm and how to distinguish them from river otters.

Youngsters and their families can dive into the world of otters and one of their favorite foods, sea urchins, during a special presentation in the Sea & Me theatre at noon.

The Aquarium’s regular line-up of sea otter-related education will also be in full swing, with three narrated feeding presentations in the Sea Otter Exhibit.

Following the 1:00 p.m. presentation, Aquarium visitors will be offered a rare opportunity to peek behind the scenes. There, they will be able to meet the mammalogists that care for the Aquarium’s sea otters and check out some of the enrichment items that keep these busy marine mammals entertained.

Those that cannot visit the Aquarium every time they want to see otterly adorable antics can watch the Aquarium’s otters’ any time on the Aquari-cam.

Sea Otter Awareness Week activities are free with regular Aquarium admission and will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on September 27. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is open every day this fall from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, call (541) 867-FISH or visit aquarium.org.