Sea Otters

One of the advantages of very still weather is that a glassy sea hugely increases the chances of seeing a sea otter - and there are more sea otters along the west and north coasts of Scotland than anywhere else in Britain. Our sea otters are the same species as our river otters but they have several major behavioural differences, the most important of which is that they are active during daylight hours. So, with our short winter days, and with their need to eat more in cold weather, there is an increased chance of seeing one at this time of year.

These pictures are of the same otter taken on different days. We see him regularly along the shore below Ormsaigbeg. At a distance, a swimming otter can be quite difficult to distinguish from a small seal or a cormorant, but they have a very characteristic way of diving, often flicking their long, dog-like tail into the air as they go down.

If they catch something small, like a crab, they'll usually eat it out on the water, sometimes lying on their back and holding it in their front paws. The best opportunities to photograph one comes when they catch a larger fish, as they carry it up onto a nearby rock to eat it. They're still very difficult to see as their wet coat is almost exactly the same colour as the seaweed-covered rocks.

Occasionally they leave the water to come inland, often following a stream. We saw one trying to cross the road near Hazelbank about a week ago but he became aware of us and turned back. An otter's eyesight is very poor out of water, but he has an acute sense of hearing, so he probably heard us rather than saw us.

We've seen several dead otters along the shore. Some may have died of disease or old age, but they have a bad time with dogs, and there has been an ongoing problem with the wild mink population, which are direct competitors and very aggressive. We've been seeing fewer mink lately: we look forward to the day when there are none on Ardnamurchan.

Otters are a pleasure to watch, particularly if there are two or more together, when they are wonderfully playful. We once saw a whole family, with three pups, playing in the pond below the Ferry Stores.

There's a link here to a Scottish Natural Heritage site, with a PDF file which gives plenty of information about the Scottish otter, and a fine YouTube clip here of an otter below the Ormsaigbeg campsite.

JH