My husband, Bill Mertena, found the first "confirmed" Puget Sound sea otter
early last spring on Eld Inlet. He called John Calombokidis, the marine
mammal expert,
who provided the confirmation. John emphasized the rarity of
the
sighting, so imagine our surprise a couple of months later, when we took
out of town visitors to a restaurant at the base of Budd Inlet--and saw a
sea otter! John said it had been there for several weeks.

But that's not the end of the story. In fall (early October, I
think, without checking my records) there were, amazingly, two sea otters
on Eld Inlet. We saw them on two separate days. They swam very close
together, turning over at the same time (I called it synchronized
swimming). Unfortunately, John couldn't find them and provide "official
verification," but we had excellent looks through the telescope. We've
seen river otters a number of times, and have thoroughly enjoyed it, but
the sea otters were special!

Betty R. Estes
Olympia, Wa.