Floating off the south coast of Vancouver Island is a lonely-looking sea otter with a dark secret 乌鸦传媒� many dark secrets.
Known to the whale watching community and his fans as 乌鸦传媒極llie乌鸦传媒�, the infamous 13-year-old sea otter has been living out his life among the kelp at Race Rocks ecological reserve for over a decade.
Initially nicknamed the 乌鸦传媒榣onely sea otter乌鸦传媒� because of his solitary lifestyle, in more recent years he has had a rather more sinister title bestowed upon him.
Meet Ollie, the 乌鸦传媒淪alish Sea Serial Killer,乌鸦传媒� a cute, furry sea otter with a dark side and a rap sheet longer than the 乌鸦传媒楥olwood crawl乌鸦传媒� at rush hour.
Thought to be responsible for the deaths of around 20 river otters 乌鸦传媒� probably more as the marine mammal is not under 24-hour surveillance 乌鸦传媒� Ollie has earned himself quite the blood-thirsty reputation.
乌鸦传媒淯sually when river otters are seen in the area [of Race Rocks], they乌鸦传媒檙e not seen again,乌鸦传媒� says Mollie Cameron, who first encountered Ollie in 2016, working for a Sooke-based whale watching company.
Showing some level of attachment to his victims, Cameron says Ollie will carry the dead body 乌鸦传媒渓ike a teddy bear乌鸦传媒� for days after the killing.
乌鸦传媒淚t almost looks like the way a sea otter mom would carry a pup,乌鸦传媒� said Cameron, who is also the director of Sooke-based wildlife education organization, Wild Wise. 乌鸦传媒淗e'll drape them over himself while he's swimming and eating, and leave them up on rocks when he goes diving.乌鸦传媒�
And Ollie doesn乌鸦传媒檛 stop at 乌鸦传媒渙ttercide,乌鸦传媒� his list of crimes grows longer the deeper Cameron dives into his history. His river otter victims show visible signs of sexual trauma.
乌鸦传媒淗e乌鸦传媒檚 been seen doing nefarious things with them for days on end after they've died,乌鸦传媒� said Cameron.
While they can乌鸦传媒檛 be certain, Cameron and others in the whale-watching community believe the sea otter is not feeding on his victims.
乌鸦传媒淭hey normally eat invertebrates like crabs, snails, urchins, clams, abalone and mussels,乌鸦传媒� she said.
So why is Ollie killing and defiling river otters? Cameron says the behaviour could be attributed to his 乌鸦传媒榣onely乌鸦传媒� lifestyle, as he is one of only a handful of sea otters recorded this far east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
乌鸦传媒淭he theory is that there's no females around,乌鸦传媒� she says, noting there was a female sea otter and a pup spotted once in the area in 2023, who disappeared as fast as they appeared.
乌鸦传媒淎nd so he乌鸦传媒檚 just taking his sexual frustration out on the river otters, as that's kind of his only outlet, supposedly. There乌鸦传媒檚 all that testosterone pumping, so he乌鸦传媒檚 probably trying to satiate himself in some way.乌鸦传媒�
But the behaviour is not unique to Ollie, explains Cameron.
In the early 乌鸦传媒�00s, nearly 20 cases of sexual behaviour between male sea otters and juvenile harbour seals were observed in California 乌鸦传媒� most incidents were fatal for the seal.
Similar to the theory about Ollie乌鸦传媒檚 behaviour, a lack of females in the vicinity was blamed for the attacks in California.
Sooke乌鸦传媒檚 newest sea otter on the scene, 乌鸦传媒榃hiffin', , is also thought to be taking his frustrations out on other wildlife; slaying ducks in the process.
乌鸦传媒淚 would assume it's maybe for the same reason that Ollie kills the river otters,乌鸦传媒� said Cameron.
With the species having a reputation as playful, cute and intelligent 乌鸦传媒� sea otters are the only marine mammal known to use stone tools 乌鸦传媒� people might be surprised to hear Ollie has the upper hand on his river otter rivals,
乌鸦传媒淪ea otters are the bigger of the two,乌鸦传媒� says Cameron. 乌鸦传媒淓very animal has the potential to be dangerous 乌鸦传媒� sea otters are no exception to that.乌鸦传媒�
Living offshore, out of sight from humans, means the 乌鸦传媒榗rimes乌鸦传媒� of sea otters like Ollie most often go unnoticed, explains the wildlife expert. But for river otters who live closer to humans in abundance, it乌鸦传媒檚 not so easy to escape public scrutiny.
乌鸦传媒淪o there's higher opportunity for negative interaction with with pets and people,乌鸦传媒� Cameron said.
While the likes of Ollie and Whiffin might not be a welcome sight for some of their wild neighbours, for Cameron their presence represents a slow comeback to the area for the animal listed as 'special concern' under the Species at Risk Act.
Hunted for their dense fur 乌鸦传媒� on one square inch of a sea otter, there can be anywhere from 500,000 to a million hair follicles 乌鸦传媒� sea otters were extirpated from the B.C. coast in the early 1900s.
乌鸦传媒淏etween 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters, taken from Alaska, were reintroduced to the coast of British Columbia,乌鸦传媒� said Cameron.
But while the marine mammal can be seen rafting in big groups in places like Tofino, numbers remain small off the south coast of Vancouver Island.
乌鸦传媒淚n the many years that I've been a whale watching captain, I think I've only seen four individuals,乌鸦传媒� says Cameron. 乌鸦传媒淔ive, including the Whiffin Spit sea otter.乌鸦传媒�
As the population shows signs of a slow increase, the biggest threat to sea otters remains the same as it did in the early 1900s: humans.
乌鸦传媒淭here is quite a bit of poaching that still happens with sea otters,乌鸦传媒� says Cameron. 乌鸦传媒淗umans, at the end of the day, are the biggest threat in general.乌鸦传媒�
To help support Ollie and his fellow local sea otters, Cameron recommends keeping a safe distance of at least 100 metres at all times, encouraging the animal to stay wild and not become habituated to humans.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 exciting to view animals in their wild habitats, but maintaining that respect for them while being in their homes is so important,乌鸦传媒� she says.
As for Ollie's future, Cameron is curious to see how the animal might react if more sea otters were to move to the area and if it might change his savage behaviour.
But in the meantime, river otters beware 乌鸦传媒� you might want to give Race Rocks a wide berth for now.
