Feiro Marine Life Center and NOAA’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary are thrilled to launch our 2025 Speaker Series! This year, we’re diving deep into the world of Megafauna, exploring incredible research on some of the ocean’s largest and most captivating creatures.
Join us every 4th Tuesday of the month at 5 PM PT for a FREE virtual event where leading experts share their research. You’ll have the chance to listen, learn, and ask your burning questions during a Q&A at the end of each talk
February 25, 5:00PT
Sea otters in Washington State: Lessons learned from the “grand experiment” of the maritime fur trade
Sea otters historically occurred off the outer coast of Washington State until 1911 when the last sea otter was reported to have been shot. Sea otters were absent from Washington State until 1969 and 1970, when 59 sea otters were translocated from Alaska. This “grand experiment” of the maritime fur trade throughout the North Pacific, including in Washington, has provided researchers with a unique opportunity to study sea otter populations by comparing areas where otters are absent versus areas in varying stages of recovery. While the maritime fur trade undeniably devastated sea otter populations, it is unlikely that we would know as much about sea otter ecology and biology if it had not occurred. Through long-term study, we have witnessed the recovery of remnant and reintroduced sea otter populations in a variety of habitat types and geographies. The unique ability to study sea otter population recovery in this array of contexts has allowed for synthesis of data from many studies and regions, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of consistencies and differences across sea otter populations, and ultimately the drivers of sea otter population dynamics.
Dr. Jessie Hale will describe the history of sea otters in Washington State, including the translocation of sea otters back to Washington, and what we have learned since then about their population dynamics, foraging ecology, spatial ecology, and more.
Speaker bio:
Jessie Hale is currently a Post Doctorate Fellow in Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Valuation with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, embedded at the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, She completed her PhD as a NOAA Dr. Nancy Foster scholar at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington. Her dissertation research examined sea otter population dynamics and longitudinal and spatial patterns of sea otter foraging on the outer coast of Washington in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Jessie is passionate about marine ecology and studying species and habitats with conservation need where her research has direct management applications.
March 25: Prevalence of Algal Toxins in Gray Whales Feeding in Northwest Washington
April 22: Steller and California Sea Lions on the North Coast of Washington State
You won’t want to miss this exciting series! Mark your calendars and join us for an unforgettable journey into the world of megafauna. See you there!
