Daily Report by Donna:

Today Anna, Larry, Dave and I went out to do otter surveys. I really enjoyed the otters on Tuesday. We watched the raft for a while and that gave which gave us an appreciation of otter group dynamics (and was very entertaining as they love to play!). We then watched an adult male forage for clams. The group on Monday said the otters mainly ate worms, but this guy was definitely a clam guy. It was a beautiful day and we were relaxing at the end of the surveys by walking along the beach. Unfortunately we came across a dead otter pup that had washed up on shore. We went back and got a garbage bag from the habor master and then went and got the pup. The little guy will have a necropsy performed by Dr. Melissa Miller. She is the pathologist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Anna said an earlier team had found a dead otter as well and that Melissa said it was a poster child for domoic acid. Domoic acid is a type of poison produced by harmful algae blooms. Anchovies, sardines and other shellfish are exposed to the poison and then ingested by marine mammals. Melissa will let Anna know what killed the otter pup and she will post this info on the blog – stay tuned!