Don’t worry if you missed celebrating World Otter Day, we’ve got you covered.
B.C. is home to two species. Sea otters spend their lives in the ocean – they mate, sleep, groom, hunt, and give birth in the water.
River otters are more regularly seen in the region – cavorting, coupling, consuming or simply creating chaos at the shoreline. The two species are often confused, but river otters are also aquatic mammals equally at home in rivers or coastal areas of the ocean. River otters spend much more time on land, according to the BC SPCA.
The agency’s Wildlife Animal Rehabilitation Centre in Metchosin, celebrated the May 28 milestone by sharing a video of an ‘otter’-ly adorable pair of river otters released in April.
While south Island animals offer fodder for adorable social media videos, a handful of the creatures are rather infamous.
A 13-year-old sea otter living out his life among the kelp at Race Rocks ecological reserve for over a decade is commonly referred to as both Ollie and the Salish Sea Serial Killer.
Thought to be responsible for the deaths of around 20 river otters – probably more as the marine mammal is not under 24-hour surveillance – Ollie has earned himself quite the blood-thirsty reputation.
A romp of river otters at Island View Beach spent last summer under the watchful eyes of dog owners after the popular off-leash area seemed to be a hunting ground. Attacks traumatized both walkers, and were attributed to the death of at least one dog.
Like most wildlife, they’re best left alone.
Experts say river otters can be quite aggressive, especially if they are in a pack and are protecting their young.
Sea otters are federally protected as marine mammals, and can only be assessed and treated by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society. However, Wild ARC does treat and rehabilitate river otters, which most often end up at the Metchosin rehab when their mother is trapped and relocated, struck by a car, or scared away by off-leash dogs. The pups usually spend their first year with their mother learning how to hunt and survive on their own, so similarly spend up to a year in care while Wild Arc staff help prepare them for life in the wild.
Otter facts from BC SPCA:
- River otters can grow up to 1.4 metres long and weigh about 13.5 kg. Sea otters grow to about the same length, but are much heavier – anywhere from 15 to 45 kg.
- Otters are found on every continent from Asia to North America, except for Australia and Antarctica.
- There are as many as 13 species of otters found globally.
- The sea otter and the smaller marine otter are found in the Pacific Ocean, while river otters and most other species of the mammal live in freshwater rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
- Sea otters have the densest fur of any animal, with as many as a million hairs per square inch. In fact, otters were hunted to extinction along the coast of B.C. during the 1700s and 1800s because of their thick fur. The sea otters we have today in British Columbia are descendants of 89 Alaskan sea otters that were relocated to the west coast of Vancouver Island from 1969 to 1972.
