I was down on Beach Drive (West Seattle), walking along the railing above the
beach. The tide was high, so the water's edge was only about 6-8 feet from
the bulkhead, underneath the railing.
I was watching an assortment of diving birds.....black scoters, surf scoters,
harlequins, common goldeneyes, horned grebes. All at once, every fowl in
view took off. I looked around, trying to figure out why they left. There
was no one, no dogs, etc. coming along the beach. Then, right in front of
me, a sea otter surfaced. It rolled around in the water, on its back, sides,
head up. We looked at each other for about 30 seconds, then he rolled and
slithered off....not in a great hurry, and disappeared.
It was quite a treat.....it was my birthday and I felt as if it were my own
special present from the spirits of nature.
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?

Mary McCann
West Seattle