Awesome shot by Steven J. Kazlowski, who somehow survived the cute overdose and has the photos to prove it. Did I say home run? This is an out-of the-park, extra-innings, World Series grand slam of cuteness. From the Mail Online:
Photographer Steven Kazlowski, 40, snapped the otters drifting across Saw Mill Bay, in Prince William Sound, off the south coast of Alaska. The sound has more than 3,000 miles of shoreline and is home to around 70,000 sea otters.[Whoa, dudes. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service [pdf link], "Three population stocks of sea otters exist in Alaska today. The statewide population is believed to number around 70,000 animals." Thousands of sea otters died in Prince William Sound as a result of the Exxon Valdez disaster, and research indicates that the population has not recovered fully. The current sea otter population of PWS, according to a 2003 aerial survey quoted here [pdf], is estimated to be nearly 12,000.]
Visit the Mail Online to see the cuteness in all its embiggened glory. [H/T: Petville.]
Steven, from Seattle, United States, said he had to wait for almost eight hours before he got the snaps of the otters.
He said: 'I had watched this area for several days and I found a rock which I thought would make a great place to watch the otters from.
'I had been hiding there for about eight hours one day when I saw the otter with its baby drift by.
'It was fantastic that after all that time I was rewarded with these images.
'The baby was just sleeping in the sun as its mother she floated in the sound on her back. It was something I will never forget.'
2 comments:
I have friends who work as wildlife rehabbers. The first time I went to visit their home on a remote lake we went canoeing. I was in the back of the boat, my friend in the front - when an otter swam up to the canoe and climbed in.
I stuttered out something to the effect of 'please tell me this is an animal you know and not some kind of rabid attack otter'. With a rather casual look over his shoulder my friend replied, 'Oh, that's just Larry, he's fine.'
So we finished our trip with an otter perched on a thwart between us. This was the first of many adventures with Larry, a very handsome and charming fellow who eventually went off to find a Mrs. Larry.
Once again, I don't have your email address to send this to you, have to do it via your comments section. There is a young female Border Collie who needs rescue from the Hancock county, Ky. animal shelter in Hawesville, Ky - she's not yet listed on their Petfinder page, but I have contact info for her. You can reach me at my email - dvcnra45@dcr.net - if you want to know how to get in touch with the people trying to find a home for her - I have photos of her, she's really pretty and really sweet, would hate for her to be put down and would love for her to go to BC rescue, they say she has a herding background! - Charles Riggs, AKA Bloggo the Dog Boy
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