Re: Otters on the Oregon Coast

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Molly Monroe

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Oct 25, 2022, 3:29:49 AM10/25/22
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Here is the story on at least one of the injured otters from last December, I don't think it survived:
A sea otter that hauled ashore on Cobble Beach at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area was brought to the Aquarium for immediate care.


From: mid-vall...@googlegroups.com <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2022 10:41 PM
To: Digest recipients <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [MidValleyNature:6773] Digest for mid-vall...@googlegroups.com - 2 updates in 1 topic
 
Lisa Millbank <millba...@gmail.com>: Oct 23 04:25PM -0700

That's a very interesting sighting, and it's an extremely rare privilege to
see a sea otter in Oregon! The Elakha Alliance is a group trying to
restore sea otters in Oregon, and they are asking people to report
sightings to ODFW.
 
One possibility is that it could have been a river otter, because they're
more common than sea otters on beaches. They're often seen in coastal
streams, bays and estuaries, and won't hesitate to swim in the ocean, and
they also travel fairly long distances away from fresh water along beaches,
either on foot or by swimming in the ocean.
 
As a kid I saw an otter killing a gull at the end of a jetty, and on a
couple of other occasions saw otters running down the beach and into the
surf. At the time, I thought they were sea otters, but when I learned that
sea otters were pretty much extirpated at the time, I realized they had
been river otters. But now that sea otters are starting to show up on the
Oregon coast, it can be tough to distinguish the two species. Sea otters
occasionally come ashore to rest, but they are large (averaging 50-75 lb)
and tend to move awkwardly on land.
 
Lisa Millbank
 
On Sat, Oct 22, 2022 at 5:27 PM Shawn & Paul Jacobsen <
Ann Werner <acwe...@comcast.net>: Oct 23 08:06PM -0500

In May I saw this river otter running north just south of Beverly Beach State Park. The ranger there said that river otters often catch a crab and take it up the creek st BB State Park, leaving shells up the creek.
He also said they had two injured sea otters wash ashore in 2021, he thought they had been attacked by a shark, they died.
Ann Werner
 
Message flown by a lark, please excuse typos
 
 
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