J Scott Shannon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
otterfamily) wrote2007-04-21 09:19 pm
otterfamily) wrote2007-04-21 09:19 pm
Trinidad harbor, circa 1910
I obtained a very rare image via eBay this past week. It's a century-old photograph of Trinidad harbor – the otters' home.
The picture was taken from the side of Little Head on the bluff where the whaling station would be built c.1920. The present pier extends about 350 feet out from the notch in the foreground, passing just to the left of those offshore rocks (which still look exactly the same today).
In the background you can see the remains of the old Ryder Wharf on Trinidad Head. That burned in 1914, so this photograph has to be at least 93 years old.
Here's a closeup:
I have other pictures of the Ryder Wharf, but none that show the profile of the far end of the landing with this much detail. Sidenote: some of the old wharf's post holes are now catchpools for fresh water where the otters drink!
I don't believe there were any otters living here then, though. The nearby Yurok village of Tsurai was still settled in the first decade of the 20th century. This tribe made its arrow quivers out of land otter pelts, so I very much doubt that the kind of stable and visible population I witnessed here in the '80s-'90s could have existed in this area during the period of aboriginal settlement.
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In other news, the other day I saw a male sleeping right out in the open next to a communal rubbing area. This kind of behavior is a sure sign that there's an estrous female in the vicinity. My fingers are crossed that it's Nova!
The picture was taken from the side of Little Head on the bluff where the whaling station would be built c.1920. The present pier extends about 350 feet out from the notch in the foreground, passing just to the left of those offshore rocks (which still look exactly the same today).
In the background you can see the remains of the old Ryder Wharf on Trinidad Head. That burned in 1914, so this photograph has to be at least 93 years old.
Here's a closeup:
I have other pictures of the Ryder Wharf, but none that show the profile of the far end of the landing with this much detail. Sidenote: some of the old wharf's post holes are now catchpools for fresh water where the otters drink!
I don't believe there were any otters living here then, though. The nearby Yurok village of Tsurai was still settled in the first decade of the 20th century. This tribe made its arrow quivers out of land otter pelts, so I very much doubt that the kind of stable and visible population I witnessed here in the '80s-'90s could have existed in this area during the period of aboriginal settlement.
----------
In other news, the other day I saw a male sleeping right out in the open next to a communal rubbing area. This kind of behavior is a sure sign that there's an estrous female in the vicinity. My fingers are crossed that it's Nova!