February 22, 2009
This week the Santa Cruz Sentinel shared this photograph and story of a Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereisis) "filming" a boat of excited wildlife photographers. This photo was taken near the Elkhorn Slough out of Moss Landing just north of Monterey, California.
This blogger is not surprised whatsoever. Having spent many hours observing their ethology, they're very intelligent, creative, and *highly* amusing.
Dr. Glenn VanBlaricom, Marine Mammal Biologist Extraordinaire, has many riveting anecdotes about sea otters behaving in interesting and unusual ways.
Years ago, scientists and casual observers saw a female Southern sea otter using a Coke bottle to open shellfish. This behavior was unique to this particular otter. Long story short, evidence strongly suggests that Coke Bottle passed this learned behavior on to her daughter and it's been passed down through other generations.
Photo courtesy of Coca-Cola Conversations
