River Otters, Sea Otters & The Changing Coast - SOLD OUT

About the Class

12:50 PM - 1:50 PM - Afternoon Elective Class

UPDATE: No seats remaining for this class! Please check out our other presenters for your afternoon selection!
| Taught by Dr. Heide Island |

Across Washington, river otters are a common and ecologically important presence, inhabiting not only rivers, lakes, and ponds but also shorelines, influencing freshwater ecosystems through predation, nutrient distribution, and habitat use. The state’s other otter species, the sea otter, manages kelp forest communities by feeding on sea urchins and other herbivorous invertebrates. Both otters contribute to Washington’s aquatic ecosystems, but like the other twelve otter species, they face pressures from noise and chemical pollution, human disturbance, and food scarcity, making monitoring and conservation critical.

Dr. Island will take you on an exploration of the world’s otters, landing along Washington’s outer coast, where you’ll visit the Olympic Peninsula’s sea otters, as females congregate in floating rafts to raise their pups, and juvenile bachelor groups form their own communities to play, rest, and practice foraging skills. Along the Puget Sound, Heide discusses her research on the health, diet, and distribution of Whidbey Island’s river otters, describing the methods used to study them and highlighting opportunities for citizen science, conservation, respectful observation, and advocacy.

Whether you’ve watched an otter slip through a culvert or marveled at their playful antics along the coast, this talk will reveal how otters are not just part of Washington’s landscapes — they help define them.

| About Dr. Heide Island |

Dr. Heide Island is a professor of behavioral ecology and neuroscience at Pacific University and a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Otter Specialist Group. Her research on the welfare of captive and wild otter populations in the Pacific Northwest, including her longitudinal study of Whidbey Island’s otters, has been published in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Heide splits her time between a cabin on Whidbey Island and a farm in Oregon, with her husband, Tom, and their cadre of cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, and honeybees. Island’s forthcoming book, Romp! A Journey Through the Natural History of Otters and Why They Matter (Penguin Random House) is scheduled for release on World Otter Day, May 28, 2026, and will be available through local community booksellers.