Sea Otter Symposium—Second Day

Sea otter raft.\Photo by David Sidle.

The Elakha Alliance, which is working toward the potential restoration of sea otters to Oregon’s coastal waters, hosts its second annual online symposium on Oct. 5-7.  The focus of this year’s conference will be the key findings in the scientific Feasibility Study draft the group recently released.

The sea otter science symposium, free and open to all, continues on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 1:15 p.m.  (See separate listing for Tuesday’s activities.) Speakers include Dr. Lynn Lee on ecosystem effects of sea otters (1:15); Dr Salvador Jorgensen on great white sharks (1:45); graduate student Sara Hamilton on status and trends of kelp (2:15); and Dr. Alan Shanks on Dungeness crab populations and the potential impacts of sea otter introduction (3 p.m.).  There will be a Q&A session with all speakers at 3:45.

They symposium’s keynote talk, at 7 p.m., will feature three speakers with three views of kelp:  Dr. Kyle Cavanaugh, a professor of geography at the University of California at Los Angeles; underwater photographer Patrick Webster; and artist Emma Akmakdjian.

To register for the symposium or learn more about the event, go here.