J Scott Shannon

I just saw wild river otters at Trinidad for the 4,800th time! Or maybe this evening's sighting was #4,801. Whatever, it's been so long since the last time, I've kind of lost count...

Anyway, what I saw was clearly an extended, multi-generation Family grouping. You might think that after not seeing otters for so long, I might not be able to tell what was going on, but after only a few minutes observing the group, I could tell with certainty that it was comprised of a matriarch accompanied by two adult female daughters, and two yearlings of indeterminate sex. There were no pups of the year with the Family.

Although I have no way of knowing for certain, I also have no reason to doubt that this new matriarch is the same alien female who colonized this harbor in 2007, after the resident family I followed for 20 years snuffed itself out. If the 2007 female is, indeed, the reigning matriarch now, this present state of affairs is a genuinely glad outcome. I do confess to being a bit troubled by the evident lack of offspring this past season, but on the basis of my own brief observations, and anecdotal accounts by others reported over the summer, it does appear that Trinidad Bay is once again home to a stable, resident otter population. And, for that scant knowledge alone, I am truly happy!

 

Arriving at the pier last night with out-of-town company, I was surprised to find unequivocal sign right away that at least one otter had visited the dock that very day. There were two very fresh fish scraps – and only two – on top of one of the pontoon floats under the dock. Only an otter could have put them there, and not just any otter, but one that was familiar with the pier structure. I was very excited! One of the natives had obviously returned!

So for the first time this summer, I went into active otter-spotting mode. Scanning the headland, I noticed a new path in the brush at the main den site that was just as wide as an otter's body, and saw signs that a second den entrance had been used recently, too. Then, about twenty minutes later, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and to my amazed delight, I saw not one but five otters walking down the crag of the main den towards the water: three adult-sized individuals, and two pups-of-the-year. (It was the largest assemblage of otters I've seen here in six years.)

It was after sunset already, so I had to rely on behaviors alone to figure out who I was looking at. To make a long story short, after witnessing all the various interactions, I believe the group was comprised of Mother, Pup (now a yearling, and evidently a female – yay!), a new male and female pup, and Slick! (I'm now convinced more than ever that he is the father of all of the youngsters.) I don't know where they've been for the last 8-1/2 months, but obviously, they're all alive and well and doing fine!

With such a long absence, I know I still don't have a study anymore, but at least it has a happier ending now than it did before, and my otter-starved soul is whole once again. :-)

 

It took me all summer, but it's finally confirmed - Mother's pup is a male. I'd been hoping it'd be a female, of course, but that's alright. At least there's a competent young mother otter residing along this stretch of coast again. I'm certain she'll produce many daughters here in the years to come.

Now to come up with a name for the not-so-little boy. I want to give him a handle that refers to his enormous size, but the most logical name - "Giant" - is already taken (he was Little Mama's littermate brother). I would also like to come up with a name that isn't lame, like most I've chosen over the years. ;-) Anybody got any suggestions?

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I also saw something yesterday I've never seen before. A harbor seal touched Mother's tail with his nose while she was eating on a rock. Normally skittsy Mother wasn't fazed by the contact at all, which suggests to me that it's happened before; I just wasn't here to note it. I've seen otters initiate contact with seals many times in the past, but I can't remember a seal making an initial overture before. Anyway, right after that, the pup saw the seal and he dove in to play with the pinniped! I have seen that happen before, but only a tiny handful of times. I guess the kid's just desperate for playmates; he being an "only child," after all.

And when Mother and pup were done, they went up into a den I call "Flower Crag." F/c was one of the otters' principal dens during the '80s and early '90s, but it was essentially abandoned after the debacle of 1992. Little Mama never used it for her family over the years. Interesting that this new mother has apparently re-discovered it on her own. Or maybe not on her own, as a few minutes after Mo+1 went up into the brush, a third otter - putatively Slick - ran up the path and joined them inside. I'm sure it was Slick who "taught" Mother about his den at the Girls' Crag, so I guess it's reasonable to assume he tipped her off about Flower Crag, too.

 

I saw three otters exit the Girls Den together this evening! It was about 20 minutes after sunset, though, so I couldn't get positive IDs, but I'm certain two of them were Mother and the pup, and parsimony makes it likely that Slick was #3. The pup is also huge for his age, which means he's probably a male. *sighs* Too dark to tell for sure, though. The group was very cohesive, and Mother was as vigilant as ever. And the pup was obviously happy to have a playmate tag along! There's a remote possibility the third otter was Nova, but it's a very remote one. I think Nova would have joined the family dyad two months ago if she and Mother were really mother and daughter.

I hope this group sticks together! Better for all their safety if they do, and most especially for the pup.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the new family in 3 weeks. It's clear to me now that the mother's not going to raise her pup here at the harbor; she's obviously gone back to wherever it was she came from. I'm so disappointed. For 8 all-too-short days, I had genuine hopes that this would turn out to be a normal summer, with a new mother and babies in the bay, but that wasn't to be. Now, even the males are gone again. It's the last week of June, and there are no otters here. That always feels so eerie, going there this time of year and not seeing them or their sign anywhere.

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I don't usually process my research videos until I finish filling up a tape, but I went ahead and extracted the single clip I was able to take of the new family and put it up on YouTube so I could at least prove their existence to you:

Watch on YouTube

That was taken June 6, my 24th anniversary of seeing my first otter here. I hope it won't be the last time I get to see an otter baby, but just in case it is, at least I have a video remembrance of those few precious moments...

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For the first time, the tribe that owns the pier has assigned a security guard to patrol the place overnight. (It's about time!) Anyway, I quickly befriended Billy and got him interested in the otters. So far, he's only seen the critters once, but that one observation of his might turn out to be the single most important discovery of the year.

At 2:45AM on the 14th, Billy saw two adult-sized otters run up from the boat launcher's beach, then run across the parking lot toward Trinidad State Beach. The arrow shows the route of what could only have been the 2 males.



This is such an ingenious shortcut because it makes it possible for the harbor otters to get to State Beach much quicker and with much less metabolic cost than if they had to swim around the entire perimeter of Trinidad Head. I've long suspected that the otters could do this, but I had zero evidence that they actually did do this until Billy saw it the other night. For the next week, there were no new scats on the dock, kind of proving in reverse that the males were away.

The males leaving together for State Beach and staying there also suggests to me that that is where the new mother is from, and where she and her pup are now. Unfortunately, the expanse of State Beach makes it almost impossible to track them there. That's a dangerous place to raise a baby otter, though. Many otters have died from dog attacks on State Beach over the years. Not that Trinidad harbor isn't dangerous, but at least here, they can minimize their contact with people and dogs...

 

I went to Trinidad this evening for the first time in 6 days, and found no new scats whatsoever. Very disheartening. Took my dog for a walk up the head, then returned to the pier about a half hour later.

I glanced over near Halfway Crag, and I was surprised to see an otter swimming right next to the rocks (my first sighting since 4/13). Then I saw a second much smaller otter literally climbing on the back of the first one. I knew what that meant but I could hardly believe it. I raised my binoculars, and uttered "Oh my god," when I saw that it was indeed a mother otter and a new baby!

After just a few seconds, I could tell the female was NOT Nova. This was a full-grown otter, at least 4 years old, and from the way she was attending to her baby, she was obviously an experienced mother. The mom and pup swam toward the pier for a short time; long enough for me to get a good look at the mother's face. She had a clearly visible white crescent over her upper lip, and the pup was plain-faced.

I got to watch them for about 15 minutes total when the mother took her pup up Den Crag, and dragged it by the scruff up into the brush and out of sight. Good mom! Wow, I could hardly believe it. I'd just made up my mind that it was all over at Trinidad, when this miraculous apparition appeared! I never thought I'd see a baby otter again, or a mother with pups. I am so happy I was wrong!

I'll miss Nova, though. I was just getting to know her. Now that there's a mother otter in residence here, though, I'm sure I'll never see her again...