Some animal sightings are a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one lucky visitor to Kodiak Island in Alaska, United States had a remarkable encounter on a recent boat trip.
Amy Bragg visited the island with three photographer friends for a photo trip in August. ‘We were in Kodiak for four days. Our boat captain was very familiar with the area. When we boarded the boat that morning at the Kodiak boat harbor we gave him our list of things we wanted to photograph— whales, otters, puffins, sea lions,’ Bragg said.
‘A couple of hours into the trip after seeing several humpback whales and hundreds of puffins, the captain slowed the boat down adjacent to a large rock outcropping from the water and there they were… hundreds of Sea Otters in a kelp bed. The boat captain said he had seen them there before and that it was a safe spot for them, as the water was too shallow for their predators, Orca Whales to get them.’
‘If I was to guess, I would say there were 300 Sea Otters, maybe more,’ Bragg added.
Sea Otters like to wrap themselves in the kelp as it anchors them in one general location for them to rest and sleep, Bragg explained. ‘The Otters made no noise and were curious at to who their newly arrived visitors were. Their cute faces always look so happy … you can’t help but smile looking at them.’
Bragg said she had never seen so many otters together in one place before. ‘Usually I only see one or two together so seeing this many was a very surprising and “a pinch me” moment I won’t soon forget.’
‘The majority of the otters stayed in the kelp while we feverishly clicked away with our cameras. Some of them swam away, some even came closer to the boat for a closer look at paparazzi that just arrived,’ she continued.
‘I was in awe… When we first approached the kelp bed I saw a group of otters and thought, “Oh good here’s a few otters we can take pictures of.” But then as we got closer and your eyes adjust to the water and the brown kelp— you noticed that all of the brown things bobbing up and down in the water were otters! Hundreds and hundreds of otters. There were so many you didn’t know which way or where to point your camera!’ Bragg concluded.
Take a look at the adorable otters frolicking in the kelp, far out of reach from predators:
Images: Amy Bragg
