Otterly adorable!

Otters are the happiest creatures I know. We have already seen 4 otters during the trip so far. It is so much fun to see their cute faces and very distinctive way of diving down to find food. It is like they take a deep breath and then dive down with an arched back, their tail is often the last thing to see. Holding food in their tiny hands. Usually, you will find a mother with two cubs diving at the same moment, climbing on a rock at the same time whether there is room or not, grooming and tumbling over each other. Mirroring each other’s movements exactly. Living life like there is no tomorrow.

If you want to find them look for shallow waters with rocks and sand and lots of seaweeds. It is very important that there is a fresh water supply like a stream or a pool. The otter needs the fresh water to clean the salty water of from its fur coat and to keep it waterproof.

In between the rocks and seaweed, the otter finds its food, shellfish, fish and crabs. The otter eats them heartily with an open mouth and gobbling their food with all kind of loud noises. It’s got no table manners at all!

Sitting on a rock I watched a pair of young otters for about an hour. The tide was coming in as one of the otters caught an eel. It was wriggling and was just a bit too big for just one otter so the other one helped to bring the eel on land in return for a bite.

So each on one end of the eel started biting in and chewing on the eel and having a great time. Suddenly, a change of plan, it was really very important to run over the rock and go for a swim before eating the eel again. I am convinced that otters suffer from ADHD syndrome!

This went on for a few times when a big gull landed on the ever decreasing rock. It watched the spectacle for a bit. The otters were very tolerant and did not mind the gull at all. But the gull had other opportune ideas. As the otters went for a next run and a swim, the gull saw its chance and swallowed the remains of the eel and sat quietly on the rock like nothing happened.

When the otters returned to their eel and did not find it they searched the entire island. You could almost hear them say: ‘Where did you leave it, did you hide it? Well, you had it last. Come on, this is not funny anymore!! Give it up!!’

And the gull watched everything and kept its mouth shut and flew off.