Great website. Feel free to post any of my photos. You will have to tell everyone about the otter eating the sea star. To answer Stars' question further...the otters do not respond well to people in the water. They are somewhat acclimated to kayaks and boats but swimmers and stand up paddlers cause the whole raft to panic and swim away.

Hi Star, Yes, river otters are much smaller than sea otters, usually about half the size. Some river otters are either threatened or endangered, just like the otters we are studying. Here, in Monterey, we are studying only the California (or "southern") otter. It wouldn't be a good idea to swim with them, because despite being adorable to look at, they can be very vicious when humans approach them too closely. Their strong and powerful paws can really hurt people.

Wow, I thought otters were much smaller than that. Are there different types of otters? The ones I found in France that live in all of the narrow waterways of the Marrais Poitevin looked like they were about two feet long. Maybe they were babies. I would love to swim with them. Would they like that?