Halloween is usually a time for costumes, candy, and spooky decorations.
But at the Oregon Zoo, three very special animals have found a completely different way to celebrate the season.
Instead of carving pumpkins or wearing costumes, they’re using miniature pumpkins to play basketball.
And the result is one of the most adorable Halloween traditions imaginable.
The unlikely athletes are Juno, Lincoln, and Uni Sushi, three rescued sea otters who live in the zoo’s Steller Cove habitat.
These playful animals already enjoy their regular basketball sessions, but when October arrives, their caregivers introduce a festive twist.
The usual rubber basketballs are replaced with tiny pumpkins.
And judging by the way the otters splash, swim, and toss their seasonal toys toward the hoops, Halloween might be their favorite time of year.
Three Rescued Otters Become Halloween Basketball Stars
On October 24, the Oregon Zoo shared an adorable video featuring its three resident sea otters enjoying a special basketball session.
The footage showed Juno, Lincoln, and Uni Sushi swimming through the water, playing with miniature pumpkins, and attempting to send them through specially designed hoops.
The pumpkins weren’t just ordinary Halloween decorations.
They were part of an enrichment activity designed to keep the otters physically active and mentally engaged.
And the animals seemed delighted by the unusual equipment.
One moment, an otter was swimming with a pumpkin.
The next, it was splashing near the hoop, ready to attempt another basket.
For viewers, the entire scene looked like a tiny underwater basketball tournament.
But for the zoo’s animal care team, there was an important purpose behind the fun.
“Positive-reinforcement training like the sea otters’ basketball routine plays a critical role in animal well-being, and using novel items like mini pumpkins helps keep it even more interesting,” the Oregon Zoo explained.
The zoo even gave its talented athletes a fitting nickname.
“Ottermatic all stars!”
Watch the rescued sea otters play Halloween pumpkin basketball
The playful video quickly charmed viewers.
One person watching the footage couldn’t help imagining how wonderful it must be to work with such entertaining animals.
“This must be one of the happiest jobs to have in the world,” the viewer commented.
And after watching three sea otters happily play basketball with pumpkins, it’s easy to understand why.
Meet Juno, The Otter Who Absolutely Loves Basketball
Although all three otters participate in the activity, one resident has developed a particularly strong passion for basketball.
Her name is Juno.
And according to her caregivers, she takes her game very seriously.
Juno doesn’t simply grab a ball and toss it toward the hoop.
She has developed her own playful routine.
First, she swims around with the ball, almost as though she’s dribbling it through the water.
Then, when she’s ready, she approaches the hoop and attempts to make her shot.
Her enthusiasm has made her something of a star among the zoo’s marine mammals.
“Juno loves to play basketball,” Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey, the zoo’s senior marine life keeper, explained in a press release.
“She gets so excited whenever we bring the ball out for her training sessions. And she’s good too!”
For Juno, basketball appears to be much more than an occasional activity.
It’s something she looks forward to.
The moment her caregivers bring out the equipment, she becomes eager to participate.
And when Halloween arrives, swapping her familiar ball for a miniature pumpkin adds an exciting new challenge.
Photo: Oregon Zoo
But the story behind the zoo’s unusual basketball tradition is even more heartwarming than the Halloween video itself.
Because years before Juno became an enthusiastic player, another rescued otter helped inspire the entire activity.
The Beloved Otter Who Started It All
The Oregon Zoo’s sea otter basketball tradition began with an animal named Eddie.
Eddie was an older rescued sea otter who developed arthritis in his elbow joints.
As he aged, his caregivers wanted to find a way to help him remain active and exercise those joints safely.
So they came up with an unusual idea.
They installed a custom-made basketball hoop on the rock wall of his habitat.
Then they trained Eddie to place balls through the hoop.
The activity encouraged him to move his affected joints while also providing an interesting challenge.
And Eddie turned out to be a natural.
Over time, his basketball skills attracted attention from people around the world.
Videos of the elderly otter making baskets became incredibly popular, transforming him into one of the zoo’s most beloved residents.
Eddie’s story was especially remarkable because he lived to an extraordinary age for a sea otter.
He was nearly 21 years old when he passed away in 2018.
According to the Oregon Zoo, that made him one of the oldest known sea otters in the world.
His playful basketball routine became part of his lasting legacy.
And although Eddie is no longer around to show off his skills, the tradition he inspired continues through the zoo’s younger otters.
Today, Juno, Lincoln, and Uni Sushi carry on that tradition with their own playful personalities.
And each Halloween, the game gets an adorable seasonal makeover.
Why Basketball Is More Than Just A Game
Watching a sea otter dunk a pumpkin is undeniably entertaining.
But the activity serves a much more important purpose than simply making visitors smile.
Sea otters are intelligent, curious animals that naturally spend much of their time exploring their surroundings and searching for food.
In the wild, they dive beneath the surface, investigate rocky environments, and use their remarkable dexterity to handle prey.
They are also famous for using stones and other hard objects to crack open shellfish.
Because these animals are naturally active and inquisitive, providing stimulating activities is an important part of caring for them.
That’s where positive-reinforcement training comes in.
Rather than forcing animals to perform, caregivers encourage voluntary participation and reward desired behaviors.
The animals can learn new skills while receiving mental stimulation and physical exercise.
For the Oregon Zoo’s otters, basketball is one of those activities.
The game encourages movement, coordination, and engagement with their surroundings.
Introducing different objects, such as miniature pumpkins, helps keep the experience fresh.
And although the seasonal equipment might look silly to people watching, it offers the otters something new to investigate.
It’s a wonderful example of how animal care can combine enrichment, exercise, and play.
Three Otters With Three Remarkable Rescue Stories
Juno, Lincoln, and Uni Sushi may now be playful basketball companions, but their journeys to the Oregon Zoo began under very different circumstances.
All three were rescued after being found along the California coast.
Juno was discovered as an orphaned pup in 2013.
Without her mother, she needed specialized care to survive.
Lincoln had a similar beginning, having been found orphaned along the California coastline in 2017.
Both eventually received permanent homes at the Oregon Zoo after being unable to return to life in the wild.
Uni Sushi’s story began a little differently.
In December 2018, she was discovered stranded on a beach near Santa Cruz, California.
She was taken to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s rescue and care program, where specialists worked to help her recover.
The aquarium’s rehabilitation efforts aim to return rescued animals to their natural habitat whenever possible.
But not every animal can safely survive independently after rehabilitation.
In Uni Sushi’s case, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service determined that she could not be released back into the wild.
She needed a permanent home where trained professionals could continue caring for her.
And in May 2019, she joined Juno and Lincoln at the Oregon Zoo.
Photo: Oregon Zoo/YouTube
For these three animals, the zoo became a place where they could receive the care they needed while enjoying enrichment activities suited to their natural behavior.
And while their early lives were marked by difficult circumstances, they now spend their days swimming, exploring, and engaging with their caregivers.
Sometimes, that means playing basketball.
And occasionally, it means dunking pumpkins.
Sea Otters Have An Important Job In The Wild
Although the Oregon Zoo’s basketball-playing otters have attracted attention for their adorable behavior, their species plays a much larger role in ocean ecosystems.
Sea otters are considered a keystone species in many coastal environments.
That means their presence can have an unusually strong influence on the health of the ecosystem around them.
One of their most important roles involves controlling populations of sea urchins.
Sea urchins feed on kelp, and when their numbers grow unchecked, they can destroy large areas of underwater kelp forests.
Sea otters help maintain balance by eating urchins and other marine invertebrates.
When otters are present in healthy numbers, kelp forests can flourish.
These underwater forests provide food and shelter for fish, invertebrates, and countless other marine organisms.
They also contribute to the overall health and resilience of coastal ecosystems.
Sea otters can benefit eelgrass habitats as well, supporting environments important to a wide variety of marine life.
For conservationists, this makes protecting sea otters about much more than saving one charismatic species.
Helping otter populations recover can benefit entire coastal ecosystems.
Bringing Sea Otters Back To Oregon’s Coast
The Oregon Zoo’s involvement with sea otters extends beyond caring for its three rescued residents.
The zoo also works with the Elakha Alliance, a Native tribe-led conservation initiative focused on restoring sea otters to Oregon’s coastal waters.
Sea otters historically lived along the Oregon coast, but the species disappeared from the area after extensive hunting for the fur trade.
Conservationists now hope that carefully planned reintroduction efforts could eventually bring them back.
But before that can happen, researchers need to understand whether coastal habitats can support a healthy population.
That’s why the Elakha Alliance and Oregon Coast Aquarium have launched a three-year study examining conditions on the seafloor.
The project focuses on the availability of prey that sea otters need to survive.
Researchers are using underwater cameras and scuba divers to study marine life along sections of the Oregon and Washington coasts.
They’re examining populations of animals such as sea urchins, crabs, and abalone.
The findings will help conservationists understand whether the ecosystem contains enough suitable food resources to support returning sea otters.
It’s an important step toward determining whether reintroduction would be appropriate and sustainable.
A Small Animal With A Big Environmental Impact
For researchers, the potential benefits of returning sea otters to Oregon’s coast are enormous.
Shawn Larson, senior conservation research manager at the Seattle Aquarium, has emphasized the important role these animals play in marine ecosystems.
“Sea otters provide powerful benefits to their environment,” Larson said.
“When otters are present, kelp forests and eelgrass meadows thrive. There is more food for other animals in the system, and the system itself is more resilient to climate change.”
The possibility of restoring those ecological relationships has made the research project especially meaningful.
But conservationists understand that reintroducing wildlife requires careful planning.
Suitable habitat, adequate food supplies, and long-term monitoring are all essential.
The study is intended to provide the information needed to make responsible decisions.
For the Elakha Alliance, the research represents an important step toward the possibility of seeing wild sea otters along Oregon’s coast again.
And while that future remains uncertain, the work is helping conservationists better understand what it would take to make it possible.
From A Rescue Story To A Halloween Tradition
Back at the Oregon Zoo, Juno, Lincoln, and Uni Sushi continue enjoying their lives in Steller Cove.
Their basketball sessions may seem like simple fun, but they represent something much bigger.
Each otter has a story of rescue and survival.
Each depends on specialized care because returning to the wild wasn’t possible.
And each benefits from enrichment activities designed to support physical and mental well-being.
The Halloween pumpkin basketball game is just one small example of the attention their caregivers give them.
It’s also a tradition that connects today’s resident otters with Eddie, the beloved animal who inspired the original basketball routine.
What began as a creative way to help an aging otter exercise his arthritic joints has become an enduring part of the zoo’s animal care program.
And years later, the activity continues bringing joy to both the otters and the people watching them.
Whether Juno is proudly swimming with her ball or one of her companions is investigating a tiny pumpkin, the scenes are impossible not to smile at.
But behind the adorable footage is an important story about rescue, rehabilitation, and conservation.
The Cutest Basketball Team In Oregon
As Halloween celebrations take place across the country, most people are busy decorating their homes, choosing costumes, and carving pumpkins.
But Juno, Lincoln, and Uni Sushi are celebrating in a way that is entirely their own.
They’re swimming through their habitat, playing with miniature pumpkins, and showing off the basketball skills they’ve developed with their caregivers.
And every splash, playful toss, and attempted dunk is another opportunity for enrichment and exercise.
The three rescued otters may never understand why humans celebrate Halloween.
They probably don’t know that their playful training sessions have made people smile far beyond the zoo.
And they certainly don’t realize that their basketball tradition began years ago with an elderly otter named Eddie.
But they do know that when their caregivers bring out the equipment, something exciting is about to happen.
And for Juno especially, it’s an opportunity she never seems to want to miss.
Three rescued sea otters, a few tiny pumpkins, and a basketball hoop might sound like an unusual Halloween celebration — but at the Oregon Zoo, it’s a heartwarming reminder that a little creativity can make an enormous difference in an animal’s life.