I had one of those afternoons that makes me feel blessed to be in Port Townsend, Washington. I was sitting on the steps leading to the beach outside PT Outdoors when I noticed some movement on the beach below me. Looking closer, I saw a mama otter and her three babies running alongside a large log on the beach. They were on their way to the water. Mama otter kept pausing and standing up on her hind legs to look over the top of the log, making sure it was safe for the babies. After all, there were tourists down a ways on the beach.

When she felt it was safe, they scrambled over the top of the log and made a run for the water. Mama otter and two babies were safely in the water, putting some distance between them and the tourists. But wait…… there were three babies!!! Where was the third baby?

The third baby had made a wrong turn. He was in the rocks of the breakwall. He realized he was all alone and started crying. My first instinct was to run down the stairs and help the baby. But, I thought better of it and waited to see how this would unfold. Sure enough, Mama otter heard the cries. She looked panicked when she realized one of her babies was left behind. She gathered the two babies with her and swam back to the beach, straight to her third baby. There was no thought of avoiding the tourists this time. She was on a mission.

What happened next cemented my warm feeling towards otters.

She actually put her arms around all three babies and hugged them! Then she started to chatter at the lost baby. It sounded to me like she was scolding him for not staying with her. I could almost hear, “Now don’t you do that again. Pay attention. You scared me half to death. I love you.” Seriously, it really sounded like that was what she was saying. It was wonderful to witness the strong maternal instinct of the otter and feel that same bond all mothers feel when protecting their babies.