A man exploring Alaska’s Kachemak Bay on Sunday watched in awe as a sea otter trying to escape orcas sought refuge on the transom of his boat.
John Dornellas, a guide for Coldwater Alaska, was touring a cove inside the bay when he spotted three transient orcas, or killer whales, and otters in the distance.
Suddenly, in an event that Dornellas captured on video, a large otter swam frantically onto the vessel’s transom and momentarily tried to climb onto the deck.
“This experience was completely by surprise and utterly unbelievable,” Dornellas told For The Win Outdoors.
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The footage shows the otter clearly in a predicament: In the water were three killer whales on a hunting spree, and in the boat, towering over the critter, was a perceived danger in the form of a person.
“Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Dornellas says in the footage. “You’re good. You can chill up here as long as you need.”
Dornellas said the otter waited until the orcas were out of sight before jumping into the water and swimming away.
Sadly, the male orca shown in the video had something in his mouth during his close approach, and Dornellas said it might have been the otter’s calf.
“All conjecture, of course. But definitely a possibility,” he said.
The guide, who was exploring alone, said the male orca was with a female and a calf, and it’s possible they were teaching hunting methods to the calf.
“This is the same transient family that we have seen time and again,” Dornellas said. “The same male orca has approached my boat on multiple occasions, almost going out of his way to come pay me a visit.”
Kachemak Bay is an arm of Cook Inlet on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula.
Transient orcas, or killer whales, are encountered from southeast Alaska as far south as Southern California. They prey exclusively on marine mammals.
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