> From: Songbird43 at aol.com, a report of a sea otter...
> Here's a question for fellow tweets.....The otter was really not a threat to
> the birds, was it? Do you suppose the birds took off thinking that the otter
> was something else? Perhaps a sea lion?

Virtually all "sea otters" in Puget Sound are river otters.

The Washington population of sea otters, numbering just a few hundred, is
restricted to the outer coast. In recent years, a few have rounded Cape
Flattery, but these remain at the far west end of the Olympic Peninsula.

A "confirmed" sea otter did turn up in the Olympia vicinity last year and spent
several weeks or months. I have heard of only one other *possible* sea otter in
south Puget Sound. I know of no central/north Puget Sound sea otter records,
but my knowledge may be incomplete.

Washington's original sea otter population was extirpated in the early years of
this century. It is generally accepted that, prior to their demise, they were
found neither in the Strait of Juan de Fuca nor Puget Sound.

Sea otters were brought from the Aleutian Islands in 1969 and 1970 to
re-establish a population, which has been increasing at a rapid rate during
recent years.

River otters, on the other hand, are not uncommon around the Sound. Whether
they would prey upon healthy waterfowl, I do not know, although I suspect they
wouldn't pass up an easy target.
--
Scott Richardson
NE Seattle
salix at halcyon.com