River otters are abundant in the San Juan Islands. It is not uncommon to
see them foraging in the surf off American Camp and Cattle Point (San Juan
Island) where waterfowl and seabirds abound.

Tim Ransom did a study of river otters in the islands in the 1980's
including during his tenure as curator of The Whale Museum in Friday
Harbor. He spoke to me several times of seeing otters take waterfowl off
South Beach at American Camp, and at Rosario Harbor on Orcas.

According to my notes, at Rosario Harbor, he saw a mother and her juvenile
offspring taking a diving duck. On another occasion, he observed a female,
her large kits, and several other adult-sized otters at American Camp. The
group showed up bearing a large flatfish, and swam into hiding in a cove.
Moments later one of the otters emerged and swam toward Cattle Point.
Within 10 or 15 minutes it returned with a black and white diving duck. A
few minutes later, another otter emerged from the cove and within 5 minutes
returned with a cormorant.

These comments by Tim were later published by Evelyn Adams in her book "San
Juan Islands Wildlife - A Handbook for Exploring Nature." Suffice to say,
with our large otter population up here, waterfowl are likely - at least
on occasion - to be a part of the otter's diet.

Susan Vernon
Friday Harbor, WA.