Cannon Beach is known as a tourist destination, but a pair of visitors spotted this week is causing a stir.
Two sea otters were seen near Ecola Point on Friday. There has not been an established population of sea otters on the Oregon coast since the early 1900s when the local population was wiped out by fur traders, according to the Elakha Alliance, an Oregon nonprofit that is working on the restoration and conservation of sea otters.
The sea otters were first seen by volunteers and then spotted by marine biologist Chanel Hason, the director of outreach and community relations for the Elakha Alliance.
The alliance says that the sea otters likely swam south from Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where about 2,000 otters live. They are not a migratory species, so the Oregon sighting is rare despite the relative proximity of a well-established population, according to the alliance.
Hundreds of thousands of sea otters once lived in coastal waters in the northern Pacific Ocean, but they were hunted to the brink of extinction in the 1920s, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
There are two subspecies of sea otters. The northern sea otters live off the coast of Alaska, British Columbia and Washington.
Washington’s population of see otters was wiped out by the early 1900s, according to the Marine Mammal Commission. About 50 years ago, 59 otters were captured from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and released along the Olympic Peninsula.
The southern sea otters, also known as California sea otters, were thought to be extinct for a while. But about 50 sea otters were discovered near Big Sur, California, in 1938, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Today, they are listed as a threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
“We are thrilled about this rare and wonderful sighting,” said Jane Bacchieri, executive director of the Elakha Alliance, in a news release. “It highlights the resilience of sea otters and the potential for their return to the Oregon coast. This event also underscores the importance of ongoing conservation efforts for our nearshore marine ecosystems.”
The Elakha Alliance says sea otters are a keystone species that could bring “profound ecological benefits to Oregon’s coastal waters.” Sea otters regulate sea urchin populations, which helps kelp forests grow.
Mims Copeland is a social media producer and covers trending topics for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at mcopeland@oregonian.com
Correction: An earlier version of this story said sea otters are listed as a threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Only southern sea otters are listed as threatened.
