Join me in the cold, dark, life-sustaining NE Pacific Ocean to discover the great beauty, mystery and fragility hidden there.

Posts by The Marine Detective

Holy Mola!

Update February 2nd, 2021
This blog was written in 2011 reporting this to be a Mola mola.
I can now share that this is NOT a Mola mola. It is a Mola tecta! It is now known that there are two species of Mola in the NE Pacific Ocean. See the CBC news article announcing this here: Meet the Hoodwinker, the Ocean Sunfish we Misidentified for Years.

Mola tecta is the Hoodwinker Sunfish. See diagram at the end of this blog for the discerning characteristics.

As a result of writing this blog in 2011 (with the great photos taken by friends), I was contacted in 2020 by the researcher who could discern this species, Marianne Nyegaard who works in New Zealand. Now, in my role with the Marine Education and Research Society, we are helping get more sightings of Mola off the coast of BC to get a better sense of relative abundance. To relay sightings, please see this link.

Something very unexpected landed near the Port Hardy seaplane base on October 20th, 2011 – a dead Mola tecta. This species of ocean sunfish looks like a cartoon character rather than a relatively fast-moving, deep-diving fish whose design has been perfected by millions of years of evolution.

Chad Chrighton, the pilot who found the Mola tecta near the seaplane base. Photo credit: Mike D’Amour (North Island Gazette).

This fish species is aptly named since Mola means “millstone” in Latin and indeed this fish looks like a huge, flat, gray circle and has rough skin.  It appears to have no body, only a giant, round, flat head with a small beak-like mouth. It is propelled by two pointy fins (dorsal and anal) and is steered by a wide, rounded, rudder-like tail. 

Photo credit: Erika Grebeldinger.

Mola species were believed to be passive drifters who travelled only at the surface, wherever the current took them. However, satellite tracking studies have revealed that they dive deeper than 600 m and travel an average of 10 to 20 km per day, the same distance traveled by open-ocean shark species. 

 

Matthew Drake measuring the Mola tecta To give you get a sense of size, Matthew is 2m tall (6.5′). Photo credit: Erika Grebeldinger.

They are certainly a rarity on the inside of Vancouver Island however and I greatly appreciate that Matthew Drake let me know about this find and that he undertook a necropsy of the giant together with Louisa Clarke and Natasha Dickinson. 

This Mola tecta measured 2.00 m wide, from beak to tail fin, and 2.06 m long, from the tip of one pointy fin to the other. It may have weighed more than 200 kg. Remarkably, this is small for its kind. Mola tecta hold the record for being the largest bony fish on earth with an average mass of 1 tonne. The largest Mola mola (cousin to Mola tecta) ever recorded was 2,235 kg and 3.10 m by 4.26 m (it was struck by a boat near Australia in the early 1900s). Note that the whale shark can be more than 9 times bigger than this but, it is not a bony fish. 

Mouthparts. Photo credit: Mandy Ludlow.

Matt and the team concluded that the Port Hardy Mola tecta was female which meant that she could have up to 300 million eggs in her one ovary. This is another record for the species: having more eggs than any other animal with a backbone.  Another astounding fact is that the larvae could grow to be 60 million times their weight at hatching.

The investigation also revealed partially digested jellyfish in her gut, which is the typical prey of Molas / Sunfish. Their diet also includes small fish, eelgrass and crustaceans and they are able to spit out and pull in water and food with their unique mouthparts. As with all species that feed on jellies, a conservation concern is that they mistake plastic bags for their food. However, there was no evidence for this being the cause of death for this particular Mola tecta.  

Maybe parasites were a factor in her death? The team found lots of skin and intestinal parasites! Some of the round worms in the guts were even still alive. Parasites are common for Mola molas. In fact, it is now believed that the behaviour of “sunning” at the surface (hence, ocean “sunfish”) might be so that birds can feed on the skin parasites and that jumping more than 3 m out of the water might help dislodge some parasites too. Mola tectas are also found associated with drifting kelp patches, where small fish can clean away the pests.  

HOLY MOLA you never know what you are going to find in our amazing marine backyard. 

All the information collected was reported to oceansunfish.org and the mouth parts are on display in Telegraph Cove’s Whale Interpretive Centre. 

 

Beware!  Fabulous Mola tecta parasite pictures below! 

Advance only if you are NOT about to eat lunch and/or if you a biology-type like me who can view these kinds of photos in rapturous fascination anytime!

Photo by Erika Grebeldinger.

Sources: 

Links regarding other Mola species:

 

 

Her intestines were an astounding mass of worms. Likely the species include the parasitic flatworm, Nematobibothrioides histoidii which is thread-like but can grow to be over 12 m (40′). No one apparently knows just how long they can become, in part because dissections/necropsies on Mola mola are rare events. Photo credit: Natasha Dickinson. 

Parasites near the eye. Photo credit: Mandy Ludlow.

More great ectoparasites. Photo credit: Matthew Drake. 

Her single ovary. Can have 300 million eggs. Photo credit: Natasha Dickinson. 

 

“Who Knew a Decomposing Whale Could Be So Beautiful?”

Indeed, a decomposing whale is THIS beautiful and THIS important to the environment.

The clip above, “Whale Fall (after life of a whale)” from Sharon Shattuck, will be of particular interest to environmental educators and those of you, who like me, have “handled” dead whales for the purposes of science and education. 

Thank you so much Lisa Spaven for bringing this to my attention and a special “shout out” to those who have worked at Telegraph Cove’s Whale Interpretive Centre dedicating themselves to preserving marine mammal skeletons. 

Information about the clip from Andrew Liszewski’s “Who Knew a Decomposing Whale Could Be So Beautiful”: “Whales can live for 50 to 75 years. But did you know that after they die, their decomposing bodies can support a whole community of organisms and other sea life for an additional 50 to 75 years?

Whale Fall is a short documentary on what happens to the largest mammal on the planet after it dies and sinks to Davy Jones’ locker. Created by Sweet Fern Productions for Radiolab, it’s not only fascinating on an educational level, but it’s also a feast for the eyes through the use of animation, paper cutouts and puppetry. I loved science growing up, but had the educational videos in biology class looked like this, I may have actually paid attention.”

Article on the importance of whale carcasses (includes link to science papers) – “Decades of Dinner – Underwater community begins with the remains of a whale; Science News Online; 2005. 

Giant Pacific Octopus – Video

Giant Pacific Octopus subtly changing colour and texture. Video by Erika Grebeldinger.

Remarkable video of a Giant Pacific Octopus juvenile subtly changing texture and colour to better match its surroundings.

When full grown, this species can be over 7 m from arm tip to arm tip and over 73 kg = the biggest species of octopus in the world.

The video was taken by fellow Top Island Econauts Dive Club diver Erika Grebeldinger during one of our dives last month. It is testament to the calibre of her diving and concern for the environment that she was able to “capture” such natural behaviour. It the octopus had been agitated, s/he would have flashed red, postured and/or inked.

Having previously posted this video on Facebook, I love Will Soltau’s observation of how the octopus leaves no footprint and what a different world it would be if we humans were more like octopus in this respect.

Thank you so much for sharing Erika!

Video below added on November 25th, 2011 from You Tube – Octopus walking on land in California at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.

 

Sharks Among Us #3 – Meet the gang – From Rat Fish to Sixgills! (Video)

Great thanks to Rendezvous Dive Adventures for sharing this video with me! 

It’s a fantastic (7.5 minute) interview with Dr. Chris Harvey-Clark of the University of British Columbia and the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG).

He discusses the shark species found in our cold-rich waters in the Pacific Northwest: “We have some of the largest species of sharks in the world swimming in these waters”.

Great video of sharks and I particularly appreciated Dr. Harvey-Clark’s explanation of the ecological link between rat fish and bluntnose sixgill sharks and, related to this, the latest research on the “ocean wanderings” of sixgills. 

I learned too about the Shark Observation Network where divers’ observations can help research. 

Might As Well Jump

When serving as a marine naturalist, one of the questions I am most often asked about whales is “Why do they jump?”

When whales jump it is called “breaching” and the answer to why they do it is not a simple one. Why whales do something depends on context; there is not just one trigger for breaching. This is no different than interpreting human behaviour. For example, if someone is tapping their foot, it could indicate irritation, having an itch, impatience or hearing a good tune!

The breaching of whales can be related to socializing, feeding, mating, communication and/or defence. Of course, when whale calves breach, it  is often related to “play” behaviour which leads to good brain development and coordination. Ultimately,  I believe that the high energy behaviour of breaching must somehow lead to a gain in food and/or increased success in passing on DNA.

Let me share two very specific and recent “cases” of breaching with you; one of which was witnessed by many residents of Alert Bay.

While out in our area with Orcella Expeditions last week, we saw an adult humpback whale breach some 30 times and also witnessed a mature male mammal-eating killer whale (“transient” or “Biggs killer whale”) breach within 30 meters of Alert Bay’s shoreline.

I have never seen anything quite like these two awe-inspiring events.

Humpback whale, ‘KC” on August 30th, 2011. One of the some 30 times he breached in less than 2 hours. Photo: Hildering

The humpback that breached so often was “KC” (BCY0291) who was born in 2002. Initially, I believe the breaching was triggered by the presence of highly vocal fish-eating killer whales (“residents”). Humpbacks do not have teeth with which to defend themselves  but they do have whale barnacle studded fins and a whole helluva lot of heft to throw around so even the mammal-eating type of killer whales very rarely interact with adult humpbacks.

My interpretation is that KC was not habituated to the killer whale dialect he heard that day (I15 and I31 calls) and was making sure he made clear “do NOT mess with me!”. He was posturing to the killer whales. After his killer whale encounter,  he turned around and came upon another humpback whale and again started breaching and making very forceful exhalations called “trumpeting”. Was this communication to the other whale about the presence of the killer whales?  Was it related to a dominance display that may have to do with mating?  I may never know for sure but it is very interesting that KC’s incredible bout of breaching seemed to lead to other humpbacks breaching as well.

Mature male mammal-eating killer whale “Siwash” breaching in front of Alert Bay on August 31, 2011. Photo: Hildering.

And then . .  there was the mind-blowing, highly witnessed breaching of the 27 year-old killer whale “Siwash” (aka T10B ) in front of Alert Bay. Siwash was travelling with a group of 20+ other mammal-eating killer whales. As mammal-eaters, this type of killer whale has to be stealthy and unpredictable and therefore, they are most often far less vocal and surface active than the fish-eating killer whales. This certainly wasn’t the case as they bounded past Alert Bay last Wednesday evening! They were swimming on their backs; fin slapping and travelling right past the shore; calves were “cat and mousing” small diving birds – whacking them around; and there were even male sex organs to be seen at the surface!

What was going on?  Let me state the obvious – they were socializing. Their bellies must have been full enough to allow them to throw stealth to the wind. These particular whales would most often not travel together so the socializing might even be related to mating.

But ultimately . . . in trying to understand the behaviour of these sentient beings, we have to have the humility to accept that we  may only ever have hypotheses for why they do what they do. It is the stuff of awe and wonder that the mighty Max̱’inux̱ were so visible to the very people that have such a strong cultural connection to them, as they swam by Alert Bay  . . . . “Home of the Killer Whale.” 

Basking in History – The Reality of B.C.’s Basking Sharks

Last updated: March 4, 2026
If you ever see a Basking Shark in British Columbia: call 1-877-50-SHARK (1-877-507-4275), or email sharks@dfo-mpo.gc.ca, or fill in the reporting form at this link. Please see info below about how to identify a Basking Shark.  

Photo by Chris Gotschalk
(Wikimedia Commons)

It’s a first. Canada has now (2011) acknowledged the endangerment of a marine fish species – the Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maxiumus). 

Basking Sharks used to be common in the coastal waters of British Columbia.  As the second largest fish species in the world, they could be half the size of a city bus (12 m and 4 tonnes) and could be seen at the surface of the ocean, “basking” there to feed on plankton. It’s a long-lived species too, believed to be able to reach 50 years of age.

However, even the most seafaring fisher is now unlikely to ever see one off the B.C. coast. There have been less than 25 sightings of Basking Sharks since 1996. So what happened?

We slaughtered them.

These sharks were put on the Canadian fisheries “Destructive Pests” list in 1949, and from 1955 to 1969 there was a federal eradication program directed at these benign, plankton-eating giants. In these years, the federal fisheries patrol vessel, the Comox Post, even had a blade mounted on its bow, designed specifically to slice Basking Sharks in half.

This species of shark has only the tiniest of teeth and does not compete for a commercial fishery like the sea lions, seals and Killer Whales that were also culled in that time period. The motivation for the “pest control” of these gentle giants was that they got trapped in gill nets, causing damage to fishing gear.

Who we used to be. Blade on the front of the Comox Post. Source: Popular Mechanics 1956.

As an indicator of how far we have come since then, imagine the social outrage today if a magazine celebrated the ingenuity of the Comox Post’s blade, illustrating how the executioner’s tool was used accompanied by the text “Huge 30-foot basking shark is almost cut in two by sharp-edged ram. The sharks, floating lazily near the surface of the water, are no match for this skillfully handled vessel, which heads directly into a school and catches an individual shark before it is aware of its plight”.  November 1956’s edition of Popular Mechanics featured just that and the June 22,1955 front page of the Victoria Times included a photo with the text “This is a basking shark, basking and leering. But the smirk will soon be wiped off its ugly face by the fisheries department, which is cutting numerous sharks down to size” (from The Slaughter of B.C.’s Gentle Giants by Scott Wallace and Brian Gisborne).

Further: “After the initial flurry of press commentary on the shark blade in 1955 and 1956, the Comox Post went about its daily job, firing bullets into the occasional sea lion, seal, or merganser and slicing sharks when seasonally abundant. At the end of each fishing season an annual report was written, and over the years the entries for basking sharks appear to diminish. The blade was used over a period of 14 years in the Barkley Sound region, during which time 413 kills were recorded.” In 1956 alone, 105 Basking Sharks were reported to have been killed.”

Basking Sharks survived as a species for at least 30 million years but have been pushed to the brink extinction in B.C. by just a couple of decades of human intolerance, misunderstanding and mismanagement.

But as a testament to how quickly human social evolution can occur, we have gone from being executioners to acknowledging the species’ endangerment in just over 40 years.  In February 2010, the Pacific population received legal protection by being listed as “endangered” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The Recovery Strategy was finalized at the end of July, 2011. 

Only history will tell if our evolved enlightenment is enough or if it came too late for the Basking Shark and many other marine species. The fact that you care enough to read this blog item is every reason for hope.

Above: Basking Shark sighting July 17, 2024 near East Sooke by Island Magic Experiences.

Above: Basking Shark sighting July 17,2017 in Caamano Sound, BC. Video by Archie Dundas of the GitGa’at Guardians via Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Presentation about Basking Sharks by yours truly and Romney McPhie of Fisheries and Oceans Canada for Ocean Day 2022.

Click here for this annotated Basking Shark colouring sheet by Romney McPhie who is not only a shark scientist but clearly also an artist (and very skilled educator)!

Sources:

Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 2011. Recovery Strategy for the Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) in Canadian Pacific Waters [Final]. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa. v + 25 pp.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 2019. Action Plan for the Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) in Canadian Pacific waters [Proposed]. Species at Risk Act Action Plan Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa. iii + 16 pp.

Species at Risk Act (SARA) Species Profile 

The Tyee, December 7, 2016, How BC Killed All the Sharks – Hysteria and a knifelik ram helped us slaughter the benign basking giants by Scott Wallace and Brian Gisborne

Wallace, Scott, and Brian Gisborne. 2006. Basking sharks: the slaughter of BC’s gentle giants. Vancouver: New Star Books.

Western Washington University. 2026. Recording of webinar Basking Sharks in the Salish Sea (see below)


Basking distribution.001

Bottomless Biodiversity

It is understandable that the human psyche has trouble being mindful of what cannot easily be seen.  However, when it comes to marine conservation, this “out of sight, out of mind” perception carries a particularly high cost. 

The waters of the northeast Pacific are dark, making it very difficult to see into the depths.  This means many people are inclined to believe that more life is found in tropical waters, where you can peer right down to the ocean bottom and see colourful fish swimming about.

However, the exact opposite is true.

White-and-orange-tipped Nudibranch. Photo: Hildering.

 

Puget Sound King Crab. Photo: Hildering.

 

It is plankton – the fuel of the food chain – that creates the dark, emerald waters of the northeast Pacific. The plant-like plankton, known as “phytoplankton”, need light, oxygen and nutrients to grow.

While our area does not have more light than the tropics, cold water dissolves more oxygen and nutrients are better circulated due to the current caused by large tidal exchanges.

Basket Star. Photo: Hildering.

 

In fact, here, we’re so fortunate to have the potential of maintaining the formula for the greatest abundance and diversity of marine life: cold, clean, high-current waters that are dark with a thick, rich soup of plankton.

What motivates me to descend into these cold waters with my camera, is to collect the photographic evidence of just how rich and colourful our marine neighbours are . . . bringing the life into sight and, very hopefully, creating mindfulness of the great need for marine conservation. 

Hooded Nudibranch. Photo: Hildering.

 

Juvenile decorated warbonnet inside a boot sponge. Photo: Hildering.

 

Humpback whales BCX0022 (aka Houdini) and BCZ0004 (aka Stripe). Photo: Hildering.

 

To learn more about zooplankton, see the fantastic BioMEDIA site. Shows images of zooplankton and the adult organism it will turn into.

Extraordinary Privilege – From on high to down deep.

Humpback whale BCY0768 viewed lunge feeding from 700+ feet above the whale. Telephoto and cropped. Photo: Hildering

Do you have 2.5 minutes?

I’ve compressed the highlights of my marine adventures of  that last 24+ hours into a little slide show. What an extraordinary privilege it has been.

Yesterday, while in a helicopter some 1,000 feet above them, I watched humpback whales lunge feed. 

Today, on the way to our weekly dive, there was a bit of a diversion . . . 3 matrilines (family groups) of fish-eating killer whales needed to pass before we could proceed.

While getting into our dive gear, in the sunshine, a few Pacific white-sided dolphins swam by. 

Then . . . there was the dive with so much more beauty and bounty.

Sometimes, I feel like I might explode with the wonder and privilege of it all. 

Thankfully, I have avenues like this to share and to feel like I might be able to make these adventures count; to enhance understanding and conservation for all this beauty and biodiversity.

Please share in the wonder with me.

Click this link to go from high above the northeast Pacific, into her depths.

(Last video in the gallery at this link). 

Diamondback nudibranch (sea slug) among red soft coral, sponge and brooding anemones. This specimen only about 5 cm long. Photo: Hildering


Beethoven the Humpback Whale! What’s in a Name?

Da-da-da-dum!  

We now have a Humpback that we’ll refer to as “Beethoven” thanks to the great creativity of Maureen and Dave Towers of Seasmoke Whale Watching.

Let me explain why we think this nickname is particularly clever.

The convention in assigning a British Columbian catalogue number to Humpback Whales is that it reflects the amount of black or white on the underside of the whale’s tail. 

The Humpbacks are determined to be an:

  • “X” if there is lots of black on the underside of the tail (less than 20% white)
  • “Y”  if there is an intermediate amount of white on the underside of the tail (20 to 80% white); or
  • “Z” if there is lots of white on the underside of the tail (more than 80% white)

For example, BCZ0004 is the 4th Humpback with a lot of white on his/her tail to be photographed in BC and catalogued. 

(Note: Up to 2010, these catalogue numbers would be assigned by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), to which we at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) would contribute our ID photos. Since 2010, DFO has not catalogued Humpbacks whereby there are now also numbers such as BCZuk2012#3. Please see the end of this blog for an explanation of the “uk”).

BCZ0004?  It’s not such an easy name to remember is it?  So, years ago, we started assigning nicknames to the whales with the guideline that the name should somehow give a clue to the identification of the whale. The hope was that this would help people discern the whales as individuals. For example, I am responsible for giving BCZ004 the nickname “Stripe”.  See the ID page from our MERS Humpback catalogue below and determine if you think this name is fitting.

Click to enlarge. BCZ0004 aka “Stripe”. ID photos from DFO catalogue and Hildering.

Okay , so it’s not a creative name but – it worked!  People associated the stripe-like marking with the whale and could identify “Stripe” as an individual. 

Here you have the female “Chunky”, aka BCX0081.

Click to enlarge. BCX0081 aka “Chunky”. ID photos from DFO catalogue and Hildering.

Not to be confused with “Vader”, aka BCX0989, who also has a distinct v-shaped marking (may the force be with you for this one). 

Click to enlarge. BCX0989 aka “Vader”. ID photo contributed to MERS by Jacqueline McGill.

And then there are the more creative names, like “Niagara” for BCY0057 whose tail has a white spot shaped like a waterfall. 

Click to enlarge. BCY0057 aka “Niagara”. ID photos from DFO catalogue and Dr. Alexandra Morton.

“Pulteney”, aka BCZ0297, has been named with the Pulteney lighthouse in mind. See the lighthouse on BCZ0297’s tail?

Click to enlarge. BCZ0297 aka “Pultney”. ID photo contributed to MERS by Bruce Paterson.

Sometimes, the name may seem even more like taking a Rorschach Test (ink blotch test). For example, see the shape of a bear’s head on the left part of “Yogi’s” tail (aka BCY0409)? 

Click to enlarge. BCY0409 aka “Yogi”. ID photo by Jim Borrowman, Stubbs Island Whale Watching.

For the greater good, we often get local children involved in the naming and as a result have Humpbacks with highly creative nicknames like “Rocket”, “Sprinter”, “Hunter”, “Shark Tooth”, “Barracuda” and “Ashes”.

Otherwise, it is the person who first shares the sighting of the whale with MERS that has the joy of suggesting a fitting nickname. 

Such was the case with Dave and Maureen. They were the first to photograph the whale below on July 19th and relay the sighting to MERS. It is a Humpback that we had not previously sighted in the area. 

Click to enlarge. Photo by Dave Towers, Seasmoke Whale Watching.

See the dot-dot-dot-stripe on the tail?  

While “Dot-Dot-Dot-Stripe” is a very literal name, in musical notation for conductors “dot-dot-dot-stripe” signifies . . . da-da-da-dum. 

Da-da-da-dum!  Like in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony! 

Hence, there is now a Humpback whale nicknamed “Beethoven”.

Thank you Dave and Maureen – a gold star to you!

Note, regarding “uk” codes: Until 2010, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) ultimately assigned a catalogue number to Humpbacks in British Columbia. We at MERS contributed our data for this centralizing cataloguing and would assign a temporary “uk” (unknown) designation for whales not already in the DFO catalogue e.g. BCZuk2012#2 has a mostly black fluke, is not in the 2010 DFO catalogue, and was first documented by MERS in 2012. We are currently (2018) collaborating with colleagues to achieve an updated province-wide catalogue for Humpback Whales sighted off British Columbia’s coast.

The MERS Humpback catalogue can be downloaded via this link. 

You Otter Know!

If I had a dollar for every time I have had a conversation like the following:

Enthusiastic otter viewer: I saw a Sea Otter on the dock! 

Me: How wonderful but . . .  it wasn’t a Sea Otter. 

Otter viewer: Yes it was, it came out of the ocean and was running on the dock. 

Me: Isn’t that wonderful but  . . .  that was a River Otter NOT a Sea Otter. River Otters live in the sea too. It’s really unfortunate that their common name is “River Otter”. It confuses people. Sea Otters can’t run. They are adapted to be in the ocean so their hind limbs are like paddles and, since they so rarely are on land, their front paws are adapted to be really dexterous and use tools. 

Otter viewer: But it was in the sea!!!!

Ah yes, how I would like to find whoever was responsible for the common name “River Otter”. 

Click the image below to enlarge a table of some of the key differences between River Otters and Sea Otters. The otter illustrations are by Uko Gorter Natural History Illustrations. 

Sea Otter vs. River Otter

What has stimulated my sharing this with you is that, this year, we have the great privilege of having a mother River Otter and her six pups delighting us in Telegraph Cove, B.C. Today, I had the chance to get some photos of them.  Below, see some of these images, including a little slide show. 

Yes, they are otterly adorable even though they add colour and odour to my days by pooping on the lines of my boat and leaving bits of fish for me to slip on . . . as well as stimulating all those “I saw a Sea Otter” conversations!

Mama River Otter and most of her brood of six. Photo: Hildering.

Crazy cute I know. Also, note the deposit under the head of the River Otter. These gifts are abundant and usually on the lines of my boat 😉 . Photo:Hildering

One of the River Otter pups shaking off some SEA water. Photo: Hildering

Mama River Otter jumping back into the ocean. Note her reflection in the water. Photo: Hildering.

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