Welcome to the 20th Anniversary of Sea Otter Awareness Week!

It’s Sea Otter Awareness Week again - and the 20th anniversary of the event! This year’s theme is “Path to Coexistence,” and Defenders of Wildlife write:

This year’s theme reflects the challenge of managing human uses to sustain wildlife and habitat diversity. Coexisting with nature supports the health and resilience of all life.

Coexistence reflects a state where humans and wildlife adapt to living within shared landscapes, with minimal and tolerable costs to both. We cannot eliminate all human-wildlife conflicts and impacts. Still, we can reduce them and gain an awareness that coastal wildlife like the sea otter imparts significant value to the health and stability of nearshore ecosystems. We must remain mindful that when we harm nature, we harm ourselves. Many paths stretch before us that we will travel with the passage of time. Only time will tell whether we opted for a path to coexistence.

Let’s kick off the week with the Daily Otter’s favorite music video, and an excellent lesson in coexistence: