Mile 311 Report
Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach
March 28, 2022
At 9:16am, on 3/28/2022, I was birdwatching at Silver Point, Clatsop County when I was excited to observe a light-colored, white faced, large bodied sea otter swimming north around the left most sea stack.
Report Details
At 9:16am, on 3/28/2022, I was birdwatching at Silver Point, Clatsop County when I was excited to observe a light-colored, white faced, large bodied sea otter swimming north around the left most sea stack. It was smaller than a seal or sea lion, and had brown fur that looked shaggier than that of a pinniped. I got good looks through the spotting scope, and here are some photographs below that I took with my Canon SX-60 (not digiscoped). The sea otter was repeatedly swimming on its back with its front paws held close to its head, and then it would disappear underwater, diving down, and moving rapidly. I noticed it was a fast swimmer, and spending significant time on its back. The photograph with the red marks shows the path the otter took, swimming towards the north out in the open ocean. According to Mr. Jim Rice, Stranding Program Manager of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, this sea otter sighting was the second sighting in 2022, and the 52nd sighting/stranding of a sea otter along the Oregon Coast since 2007. I shared this sighting with iNaturalist, Elakha Alliance, Mr. Jim Rice, and Mr. Roy Lowe.
Conditions
Temperature: 45 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Tide Level: 6.6 feet.
Vehicles
Cars/trucks parking: 3.
Notable Wildlife
At 9:16am, on 3/28/2022, I was birdwatching at Silver Point, Clatsop County when I observed a light-colored, white faced, large bodied otter swimming north around the left most sea stack. It was smaller than a seal or sea lion, and had brown fur that looked shaggier than that of a pinniped. I got good looks through the spotting scope, and here are some photographs below that I took with my Canon SX-60 (not digiscoped). The otter was repeatedly swimming on its back with its front paws held close to its head, and then it would disappear underwater, diving down, and moving rapidly. I noticed it was a fast swimmer, and spending significant time on its back. The photograph with the red marks shows the path the otter took.
Sea otter!
Jockey Cap Rock and the path of the sea otter shown with the red dash marks.
Report Images
sultanym
CoastWatcher
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