It seems every time I see a Sea Otter,the light is poor! Don’t have good luck with these guys. They normally stay on the outside & I almost always only go on the inside. So I do not run into them very often.
I found this female around Strawberry island.
She. I can tell it’s a female by the nose. When Otters mate,the male grabs the nose of the female to stop her from taking off & making her more submissive. This usually tears her nose during the process. When the injury heals,it’s always a pinkish colour.
So this Otter is a female & has mated.
If you’re ever up around Ahousaht, You should give me a shout! A fellow wildlife photographer and whale-nut who doesn’t get on the water often enough! Otters are also on my list – I still haven’t gotten a good photo!
Really enjoying your blog – I have just booked a trip to Tofino in June. Was wondering if you see many sea otters as I loved seeing them on a previous trip to Vancouver Aquarium and they also featured in the new Blue Planet series – not sure if that has reached Canada yet. I got some fun footage of them which I put on my blog here, along with some panorama views of my Canada travels so far… https://heartensoul.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/spinning-me-round/
I do see them occasional but those guys prefer to stay on the “outside”. One may come into the harbour but they spook easy.
I heard they “raft” up down in Ucluelet sometimes during the summer in the “Big beach” area?They link arms & float on top of the seaweed to rest & sleep.
I see River Otters more often.
http://www.oceanmistgh.com/uclueletbeachesslideshow.html