Mother sea otter snuggles her snoozing pup.

On a recent trip to photograph humpback whales in Alaska coastal waters my plans were foiled because of bad weather.  High winds kept our small boat in the harbor.  But these same winds presented an unexpected photo opportunity.  Rough seas brought a couple dozen sea otters to a small protected bay for shelter from the storm.  At first the sea otters were shy and stayed out of reach of my telephoto lens.   But by hanging out in plain sight for hours each day they grew used my presence and would sometimes drift in close enough for photographs.

Sea otters spend much of their time sleeping, gently rocked by the ocean.

During wet weather sea otter moms sometimes broke up their routine by bring their pups ashore.

Curious sea otter checks out the photographer.

This adult sea otter pry’s open a scallop.

Sea otters are very good mothers and spend hours each day grooming their pups luxurious fur.