By Stan Tekiela
It is not often that I get to interact with two very similar but also very different species on back to back photo trips. I am talking about River Otters (Lontra canadensis) and Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris). Although they look remarkably similar, they are very different in so many ways. So, let’s take a look.
It all started while leading a photo workshop in Yellowstone National Park this winter. Along the frozen banks of the Yellowstone River, we located a family of River Otters consisting of an adult female and three young otters, which are called a pup or whelp. The adult male otters are called dogs and females a bitch (otter).
Over several days we found this family of otters swimming and hunting along the half-frozen river. River Otters never seem to stop moving. They are constantly running, playing, sliding in the snow, or swimming. Only when they pop up on the ice with a fish do they stop long enough to finish the meal but then they are off again.
Our North American River Otters are descendant from Old World River Otters. It is thought they crossed the Bering Land Bridge about 1.8 million years ago and have evolved into their own unique species. On average an adult male weighs about 25 to 30 pounds and females around 18 to 20 pounds. They are about 4 feet in length with the tail making up about one-third of that length. Their whiskers are long and thick and act to enhance their senses, especially while underwater. River Otters can live upwards of 10-15 years in the wild and up to 25 in captivity.
Watching and capturing images of these lively River Otters was one of the many highlights of this winter photo workshop. However, after three weeks in Yellowstone I flew directly to Alaska to spend a week photographing Sea Otters. Sea Otters look very similar only much, much larger than River Otters.