With his adorable Steiff-toy face and fluffy fur, his curious, playful nature and agile forepaws, the sea otter is considered one of the most popular marine mammals of the northern Pacific Ocean. Yet, by the early 1900s, sea otters had been hunted nearly to extinction for their fur. In the 1930s, a raft of some 50 sea otters were discovered off the coast of Big Sur.
Margaret Wentworth Owings was determined to ensure that those otters, and generations to follow, would survive and thrive.
Owings, a graduate of Mills College, followed by graduate studies at Harvard, had come to Carmel in the early 1940s. A decade later, she moved to Big Sur with her second husband, renowned architect Nathaniel Owings, into “Wild Bird,” a house designed for them by Frank Lloyd Wright disciple Mark Mills to jut out from the craggy cliff rising more than 400 feet above the swirling surf. Near a raft of sea otters.
In 1968, Owings founded “Friends of the Sea Otter,” an organization which worked for more than 50 years to play a lead role in bringing the animal back from the edge of extinction and to ensure that sea otters are protected, henceforth, under state and federal law.
Owings, a State Parks Commissioner from 1963 to 1969, who sat on the Point Lobos League, the council of the Save-the-Redwoods League, and the Big Sur Land Trust, and who took her campaign Congress to protect sea otters and end bounty hunting of mountain lions in California, has been called the “Jane Goodall of the West Coast.”
In the 1960s, Jane Goodall was invited to visit Big Sur by Margaret Owings, who escorted her down the coast to see the sea otters and learn of their plight. She promptly became a fan of Owings and otters, and a member of Friends of the Sea Otter.
“Margaret Owings believed that the sea otters have as much right to their share of the ocean’s bounty as the fishermen,” Goodall wrote. “Hers is a very wonderful story, not only because it preserved a fascinating and truly delightful species from probable extinction but also because it shows how one determined person can make a difference. That is a lesson we all should learn.”
Reasons for hope
Last year, on March 23, Goodall came to Carmel via the Wildlife Conservation Network, just 11 days shy of her 90th birthday. On the agenda of her birthday tour was to give an audience of 718 fortunate folks seated at Sunset Center, “Reasons for Hope.” After speaking of the importance of international conservation and sharing stories of her devotion to the welfare of chimpanzees, in her parting words, she told her audience she would love to return.
“My job now is to try and help people understand every one of us makes a difference. And cumulatively,” she said, “wise choices in how we act each day can begin to change the world.”
During her visit, Goodall dined with ocean conservationist and philanthropist Julie Packard, during which she voiced her assumption that sea otters must have plenty of support.
“When Julie told Jane that it is just the opposite, that sea otters are an endangered species in dire need of support, Jane saw an opportunity to do important work to continue to reintroduce the northern sea otter,” said Carmel’s Charles Knowles, president and cofounder of the Wildlife Conservation Network. “They eat purple sea urchins who eat kelp; we cannot lose the kelp forest, which reduces carbon, creating healthier ecosystems for everyone.”
Knowles shared with Goodall that he wanted to launch the Wildlife Conservation Sea Otter Fund and that he and the organization would love to have her join the effort. True to her word, Goodall is returning to the Monterey Peninsula to speak at Sunset Center on April 7, during a sold-out lecture on behalf of “Hope for Sea Otters.” She also will lead two “sea otter safaris” on the Elkhorn Slough which, at $2,500 a seat, are also at max capacity.
“We are ultimately looking to raise $40 million over the next 12 years,” Knowles said. “Everybody can play a role in this because everyone can become aware of the sea otters we have here. If you’re out kayaking, give them plenty of space. Spread the message of how fortunate we are that we can go see sea otters, whose welfare belongs to all of us.”
On Jan. 4, in a ceremony held at the White House, Goodall was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden, who stated that her “activism, vision and message of hope have mobilized a global movement to protect the planet. Above all, she has taught us that when we search for humanity in the natural world around us, we discover it within ourselves.”
Goodall still travels 350 days a year, says Knowles, spreading her message of hope for the planet. “My job now is to try and help people understand every one of us makes a difference. And cumulatively, wise choices in how we act each day can begin to change the world.”
