Southern Sea Otters

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An older adult male Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, stealing an octopus from a young adult female, one of four he had been mating with over the previous two weeks, Monterey Bay.

A male Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, Monterey Bay.

A young female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, trying to get the attention of an older male. They had been mating, but when he stopped, she went after him, and started "play" biting and wrestling with him. He rebuked her and swam off.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating a small crab.

A young adult female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, Monterey Bay.

A young Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, pup, nursing, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, mother and pup, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, mother and pup, Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating purple urchins, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, mother and pup, Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, smashing a purple urchin against a rock laying on its chest, Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, smashing a purple urchin against a rock laying on its chest, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, at Moss Landing. Some sea otters haul out on the beach near the harbor entrance. This individual was old and and a bit weak. It rested three times, while covering a distance of twenty-five feet to the water.

Some Southern Sea Otters, Enhydra lutris nereis, have a taste for sand dollars (or, as I call them, "ocean potato chips") - off San Carlos Beach, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, mother dragging her pup by the scruf of it's neck. This allows her to move more quickly, while keeping her eye on some nearby fishermen and kayakers, Monterey Bay.

The male Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, will often hold its mate by the nose during copulation, Monterey Bay.

A young female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, Monterey Bay. "I swear, the abalone was this big."

A male Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, nicknamed, "Jack," is in dire need of a good dental plan.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, shows off a healthy set of choppers, while grooming.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, hauled out on the rocks at the Coast Guard Breakwater, Monterey CA.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, Monterey Bay.

A young female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating a sand dollar, Monterey Bay.

2014 was the year of the octopus. Otters were eating them by the armful. This mother sea otter is handing her pup an uncooperative lunch, Monterey Bay.

When octopus are abundant, Southern Sea Otters, Enhydra lutris nereis, will often come to the surface with more than one. This octopus sits on the otters chest, while its cousin is shredded.

When octopus are abundant, Southern Sea Otters, Enhydra lutris nereis, will often come to the surface with more than one. This octopus sits on the otters chest, while its cousin is shredded.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, pup eating an octopus, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating a large shrimp.

An octopus shows it's irritation by turning red, while it's cousin is being munched by a young female sea otter.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating an octopus, Monterey Bay.

A young adult female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, Monterey Bay.

A young adult female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, with two kelp crabs, Pugettia producta, Monterey Bay. Sea Otters often surface with as many as three kelp crabs at once. They will pin one down with their rear flippers.

Kelp, it's all the rage this year among Southern Sea Otters.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, calling for a momentarily lost pup, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, resting in its kelp bed. Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, calling for a momentarily lost pup, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, all wrapped up and nowhere to go, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, a large purple urchin, Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, hauled out to groom on a floating dock, in the Moss Landing harbor, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating gourmet purple urchins, served on a bed of corralline algae, all the rage in not-so-haute cuisine, Monterey Bay.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, mother and pup, Monterey Bay.

Fishing line wrapped around an urchin about to be eaten by a sea otter, Monterey, CA.

A Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, lightly draped in surf grass, Monterey, CA.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, nicknamed, "Sparkle," found a dust pan that had blown into the water during a rain storm. She played with it for almost an hour, at one point using it like an umbrella, during a heavy downpour, Monterey, CA.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, nicknamed, "Sparkle," found a dust pan that had blown into the water during a rain storm. She played with it for almost an hour, at one point using it like an umbrella, during a heavy downpour, Monterey, CA.

An adult female Southern Sea Otter underwater, Enhydra lutris nereis, pulling mussels off a wharf piling, at Monterey's Wharf #2.

Some Southern Sea Otters, Enhydra lutris nereis, wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting off, while sleeping. This adult female has covered herself with a plastic garbage bag, as well, Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating a Rock Crab, Romaleon antennarium, Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, breaking a Rock Crab, Romaleon antennarium, claw against a rock on her chest, Monterey Bay.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, breaking a Rock Crab, Romaleon antennarium, claw against a rock on her chest, Monterey Bay.

A yearling Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, startled by an older male who approached it too quickly, Monterey Bay.

A young adult female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, Monterey Bay.

A grooming Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, Monterey Bay.

An adult female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, eating a kelp crab off Pacific Grove, CA.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, trying to get her week-old pup to settle down, while she takes a nap near a plastic buoy in the Monterey Harbor.

A female Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, finally getting her week-old pup to settle down, while she takes a nap near a plastic buoy in the Monterey Harbor.

A male Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, grooming his head fur.

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Southern Sea Otter

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