Sea otters vanished from Oregon’s coast more than a century ago, driven out by the fur trade. Now, the Seattle Aquarium is joining a hopeful quest to bring them home — and it’s a conservation win the Pacific Northwest has been waiting generations for.
The Aquarium, a nonprofit and a global leader in sea otter conservation research for more than 30 years, has teamed up with the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Elakha Alliance and the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Sea Otter Fund to build the science that could one day make reintroduction possible.
The three-year research project, running through the end of 2028, compares Washington’s coast — where sea otters were reintroduced in the 1970s and are now thriving — with Oregon’s coast, where they have been absent for generations. It’s a rare chance to study what makes a reintroduction succeed before taking the leap.
Sea otters are beloved ecosystem engineers: they help kelp forests and eelgrass meadows flourish and make coastal ecosystems more resilient to climate change. A century after they disappeared, the science for their return is finally taking shape — and Seattle is helping lead the way.
Photo: Gretchen Kay Stuart via Elakha Alliance
