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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

What’s killing the sea otters awareness

I would like to bring your attention to an article from Time Magazine (which you ca read if you go to this link: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1538645,00.html).

The article is titled What’s killing the sea otters and focuses on the decreasing populations of sea otters off the California coast. Recently, the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law raising the fine to $25,000 for harming those sea creatures and requiring that all cat litter that is sold in the state’s stores put a label on the product that asks cat owners not to flush their cat’s droppings into toilets or storm drains, which eventually may enter the ocean. Research has found that a parasite multiplies in cats and once in the ocean it makes its way to otters which die from it. I think that enacting such a law is a great step. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was also quoted in the article by commenting on the declining populations. The article does not go beyond that and does not give any specifics on public relations. I think that more could be done to increase the awareness and to publicize the issue such as involving the state commission of Wildlife.

1 Comments:

Blogger Lauren said...

As Kristina said, this article did not touch upon any public relations program in the works to bring awareness to the sea otter issue, and I think this particular issue is ripe for the development of a public relations campaign.

Statewide laws are all well and good, but in this instance, education is key. I had no idea about any connection between cat litter and sea otter deaths prior to reading this article. But for environmental activists, and particularly sea otter preservationists, this is a huge issue. To have a population hover around 2,700 when it should be 13,000 is pretty frightening. But what is missing is a campaign of why people should care and what there is to be done about it.

To follow the four-step public relations process in Chapter 11 of the text, the public relations staff at the Monterey Aquarium needs to develop a campaign to a) define the problem b) plan and program c) take action and communicate and d) evaluate the program. The Aquarium can do a city or state-wide campaign to raise awareness. They can create a “Sea Otter Appreciation Day” and have the governor himself, since he has already supported the issue, take part in events and education. With all of the unpreventable deaths (sharks, boats, etc.) of the otters already decimating the population as it is, opportunities such as the implementation of a proactive education campaign need to take place when possible.

8:35 PM, October 24, 2006  

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