Saving Sea Otters

Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) once ranged from Baja California to the Pacific Northwest. Today, they're found only on California's Central Coast, at a fraction of their historic numbers. The population is growing slowly, when it grows at all. Despite decades of federal and state protection, they now face threats that weren't a concern when they were placed on the endangered species list in 1977. Disease and parasites, possibly linked to coastal pollution that can weaken otter immune systems, take a heavy toll. The risk of a major oil spill remains a serious threat.



Fortunately, there's a new federal recovery plan for California's sea otters that's designed to help the species flourish. With 20 years of leadership in sea otter conservation efforts, our Sea Otter Research and Conservation program is directing all its efforts to support the recovery plan. Everything we do has this aim: to discover why California's threatened otter population is in crisis and how we can help the population thrive.

We'll use our unique strengths to help sea otters

As a public aquarium, we have a special opportunity to help people learn about the plight of sea otters, to engage visitors in actions that will make a difference for otters, and to bring colleagues together in collaborative sea otter conservation projects. We'll continue to take the lead in planning for management of sea otters at aquariums, zoos and research facilities. And we'll expand and improve our education and outreach efforts so that more people will become advocates for sea otters. We'll do all we can to influence public policy to improve the prospects for a sea otter recovery. We'll also work with government and private agencies to implement the federal recovery plan.

We'll continue to return sea otters to the wild

Twenty years ago, when we first got involved in sea otter conservation, almost nothing was known about how to rescue and rehabilitate a stranded sea otter for return to the wild. We were pioneers, and we still have a lot to learn. We'll concentrate our rescue work on returning animals to the wild that have the greatest potential to contribute to population recovery, especially stranded females of breeding age and others that can help the population recover. We'll continue to improve our rehabilitation techniques so we'll be prepared to rescue large numbers of animals in the event of an oil spill or other catastrophe affecting the wild population.

Ultimately, the success of all our efforts will be measured in the ocean. If California's sea otter population begins to thrive, then we will have accomplished what we set out to do.

Research is the key to the otters' future

To help the southern sea otter survive for generations to come, scientists must learn much more about why the sea otter population is growing so slowly. That will involve years of research. Our sea otter team is part of the research effort, through field studies and projects involving captive animals. Already we take part in studies that monitor population health and demographics, that measure how much energy otters expend finding food, that determine how otters use their sense of smell to find food, and that document how well young otters survive in the wild after they're weaned from their mothers. We will expand these efforts as we create a new strategic research partnership with scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz.