Watch a friendly wild sea otter frolick off B.C. coast (VIDEOS)

Dec 19 2017, 7:45 pm

Your daily “aww” courtesy this footage of a rare sea otter spotted playing and snacking in the waters off Vancouver Island.

Last week a bold sea otter got up close to a couple who were kayaking in the Salish Sea off the coast of Victoria.

Cheryl Alexander, who grabbed her camera to film the sea otter’s interaction with them, told CBC News: “[The sea otter] swam right up to where we were standing on the shore, and we have a couple little steps that go into the water, and he put himself on the first step, boost himself up, and then he tried to get on my husband’s kayak.”

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The sea otter ended up hanging around through the night, and Alexander said he was still there the following morning.

Though Alexander described the sea otter as “cute and curious,” the animals are predatory by nature and can deliver a mean bite.

The Vancouver Aquarium says the sea otter population in British Columbia has steadied in recent years, but does show a bounceback from historic extinction due to fur traders. “The current B.C. sea otters are descendants of 89 Alaskan sea otters that were relocated to the west coast of Vancouver Island from 1969-72.”

Recently another video captured a sea otter–possibly the same brazen little guy from the Alexanders’ kayaking excursion–interacting dangerously close to people on the shore at Cadboro Bay beach in Victoria.

Often wild sea otters displaying this degree of friendliness are thought to have been fed by humans.

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Featured image: YouTube/Screenshot

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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