So like I said in the last post, I had a week with a 600mm F4 lens. I tried to get out as much as possible. Day 2 and 3 of the lens was spent in Morro Bay with the sea otters and other harbor wildlife.
I'll start this post with a photo of a cormorant. There were a few cormorants fishing and coming up with fish after fish! I sometimes wonder where all of that food goes!?! Sea otters are not the only ones who eat a whole lot of food. Double-crested cormorants can eat up to a pound of fish per day!
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| Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) with a plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus). |
The rest of the photos are of sea otters. There are many reasons why I like sea otters, but I can tell you why, when I am not working, I am watching otters- they are always interesting! Below are some of my favorite sea otter behaviors. There are a few of my favorites missing, but if I could see them all in one day, it wouldn't be as fun!
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| Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) mom and pup resting. |
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| Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) mom and pup. Well, hello to you too! |
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| Two young sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in a bit of a brawl. |
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| Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) with a sheep crab (Loxorhynchus grandis) |
The next two photos are part of a behavior that shows that all animals find ways to cheat the system. Prey stealing is a common thing with sea otters, but commonly we see males stealing from females (yet another reason why I would never want to be a female sea otter!). But this particular steal that is shown below was one female stealing from another! It is not that uncommon, but I am always surprised when I see it.
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| Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) with a sheep crab (Loxorhynchus grandis) that is about to be stolen by another otter. |
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| The moment after the steal. The prey-less otter is in the foreground. Kind of looks disheartened. |
