We went to Dixie Cove Provincial Park on August the 12th.   The anchorage consists of an outer and an inner cove, the outer one being deeper and larger.    As we came in, i noticed a clump of kelp to one side, and a face looking at me.  A sea otter!!    he seemed to be all by himself.           MV Meridian was already anchored in the smaller cove towards the front, leaving lots of room for us.       We came nice and early, so i did some baking  and relaxed.    That evening after dinner , i noticed the otter in the bay, floating on his back.   I launched my kayak and slowly went after him.    He was grooming, and propelling himself with one flipper, he is a big guy, so i think he is a male.        I followed him slowly, and he went to the first bay, to his kelp patch.    But, every time he would look at me, stare for a bit, and seemed to think, ah, she is still here!!!     Then we would groom again.     At one point i came close, very close, and he had his eyes closed!!!! he was dozing!!!!!                  I just floated there, watching him with great love and admiration.         He woke, looked around, saw me, and dove down!!   Darn, but he came up again a bit further in the bay.   Then he started swimming towards the small bay again, where the boats were anchored.  I followed him again,and started talking to him, telling him what a beautiful boy he is, and thanking him to let me come close.    As soon as i started talking, he slowed, and stopped!!      I quietly floated near him, kept talking to him, came closer and closer, the noises he was making were priceless, so funny, he grunted, groaned, squeeked, sneezed, coughed, all the while grooming, he would take one back flipper, and run it through his teeth, it made a most comical   rubbery sound, he then would stop, and put both front flippers in his ears, rubbing them, and grunting at the same time.   Then his belly was scratched  and rubbed, he would roll around in the water, keeping the outer fur wet, look at me, (at this point i was touching him with the kayak!!!), and he seemed to blink, staring right into my eyes.         I had to watch not to hit him with the paddle, thats how close we were.       I just sat there, it was almost totally dark, but i managed some photos, he seemed to get tired, and slowly then paddled towards a corner of the little cove, near a small fresh water stream.     Thats where i left him, saying goodnight.                                   My heart was and is full of him, what an experience, what a joy, i feel so truly blessed!!!

The next morning we decided to head out, weather was ok,as i was sitting in the cockpit, i looked towards the spot where i left him, and saw what looked like a log, brownish colour…..    It was him!!    But i thought something was wrong, he was totally stretched out,nose in the air, flippers not showing, not moving at all, oh my goodness, had i stressed him too much????      Bert was pulling up the anchor, and as soon as i could , and we were free, i quietly took Curtsy towards him,and then, one flipper came up, then another, he stretched,. he was sleeping in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      I will never forget this guy, i hold him in my heart.

I have found out later on, that the sea otters go ahore when a big storm comes, they know, they lie out of the surf, and wait , holding onto each other.  ( how i would love to see that…)

Before i tell you my story , about the encounter with one of these marvelous creatures, i want to write  a few things about them.       In the 1700’s, they were basically hunted to almost extinction along the coast.    The first Europeans , arriving here, noticed very quickly what an incredible fur they have, the king of England wanted a coat made of the fur, so did every one else, they are so easy to hunt, they just lie there, in the water, looking at you, total trust, not realizing how dangerous we are.       The fur trade was established very quickly, the Europeans paid the first nation well for the pelts.    Between 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters were relocated from Alaska to Checleset Bay Ecological  Reserve.   They did and do very well, the last count for the coast was 2700 otters, a great success story.

Their fur is incredible, they have a top coat and a very dense underfur which consists of over 100.000 hairs per square centimetre, which they continually groom and aerate to keep it clean and dry.        Because of the fur market the sea otter totally vanished from Canada , but now, every where you go and sail by, there they are, out in the middle of the ocean, usually where it is around 30 to 40 metres deep, floating among the kelp, they wrap themselves in the kelp, sleep there at night, and never go ashore.   Their babies lie on the moms belly, or hold on to her fur on her back, when she dives down for urchins or crabs.   I saw one mom with a tiny little one, barely 10 ” long, all black, she would groom it, then move it to her back and dive down for a minute or so.

Recent counts along the B.C. shore with bots and plains recorded well over 3.200 sea otters, a great comeback!!!!  2700 were counted on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

We left Walters Cove on the 12th, and headed to Dixie Cove Provincial Park.