Hi
I was walking by Smugglers Cove yesterday around 6:30 pm and to my great surprise observed a sea otter. What attracted me was loud barking by two Labrador retriever dogs – initially I thought they were playing together but soon realized that they were barking at and lunging at the sea otter and the sea otter was trying to come to shore. I told the owner to put his dogs on leash and take them away and thankfully he complied almost immediately.
Given that sea otters are so rare and are just returning to the ecosystems here it would be great if you could get signage on some of the smaller beaches and send out information to your membership to prevent dogs and other pets from harassing the sea otter as he establishes territory (if he decides to stay).
I thought I would bring this to your attention and hope you will be able to provide some awareness signage
Thank you
Regards
Purnima Govindarajulu, Ph.D.