The Others

An extremely close landing to Bob as he watched another eagle below, feasting on fish scavenged from the Orcas passing by.



River Otter (Lutra canadensis)

"About half of a river otter's time is spent sleeping. Both young and adults are fond of play. They manipulate rocks or sticks, play tag and hide-and-seek, dunk each other, wrestle, and slide on mud or snow.
River otters are often found in groups. A family unit is made up of a female and her pups, with or without an adult male. The family usually travels over an area of only a few square miles. The female appears to dominate the rest and may drive other animals away from a small area around the den where her pups are living.
River otters produce a variety of noises. They growl, caterwaul, and whine. When alarmed, individuals emit an explosive “hah!” When two or more are together, they often produce a mumbling noise that seems to be a form of conversation. A good imitation of this is made by closing the lips and rapidly uttering “hm” several times in a deep voice. A bird-like chirp apparently expresses anxiety and is most often heard when members of a group become separated."




There is a family of otters, living near Stonewall, that quite often we interrupt while roaming along the beach.

A funny story: Yesterday, Inde and I were walking the beach. As we passed Stonewall Inde caught sight of three otters and gave chase. They quickly escaped to the water and swam away. As we were passing Stonewall again, an hour or so later, one otter had returned to the point. This time it did not seem so ready to give up it's territory. The otter swam around the point making its throaty noises, swimming in close and then backing away. Inde was beside herself, transfixed by this newly discovered creature. The two continued this act for around 20 minutes. Twice the otter climbed upon a large rock five feet from shore and taunted Inde, who could not find the courage to enter the water. With great effort Inde finally pulled herself away from her fascination to follow me home. The otter however had not had enough and continued to pursue us along the shoreline until we headed off the beach.




Don't know who this little guy is, but there were lots of them along a lake on Unimak Island, where we saw these bear prints.










We haven't seen any bears lately, but the pictures remind us that they are here...somewhere.