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Friday, February 15, 2013

North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

It always gives me a thrill to see wildlife here in the city and it has been some time since I was privileged to sight an otter. Although he was swimming yesterday in the salt water near the shoreline along the Westsong Walkway, he's a North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) and not a Sea Otter. Sea Otters are found in the coastal waters of Vancouver Island but not in the Victoria area. I particularly like to see otters because they are sometimes used as an indicator of pollution - they are very sensitive to pollution.

4 comments:

JoJo said...

Aww! So cute! I love otters, river and sea!

Janet said...

He looks quite at home!

William Kendall said...

Seeing this one after your latest. At the very least, these ones look bigger than the ones I've seen.

Warren said...

great photo! I really like the parallel patterns in the direction of the otter's path, and the slight rolling swell behind it. Nice!