In the Field

On the Edge - Northern River Otter. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. June 1, 2026.

One question I get a lot before a photo tour into the Great Bear Rainforest is "Will we see any Sea Otters?" The answer to this question is often "Yes, it's quite possible" (depending on the route we are taking on that particular trip into the Great Bear). But, interestingly, almost no one asks me if we're likely to see Northern River Otters! And, as it turns out, we're almost equally likely to see River Otters as we are Sea Otters - and overall they're probably found in more of the Great Bear Rainforest than Sea Otters are (at least currently, but note that the Sea Otter - which is recovering from historical extirpation in BC - is rapidly expanding its range within the Great Bear).

This particular Northern River Otter was actively hunting for food when we encountered it in a remote inlet of the Great Bear. Shortly before I captured this shot the otter had nabbed a very orange crab and snarfed it down in just a few seconds. In fact, the otter was so "into" eating the crab it appeared to forget all about us! I captured this image right at the moment the otter seemed to remember we were just offshore watching it!

This shot was captured with a focal length of 840mm - specifically with a Sony 600mm f4 lens paired with a Sony 1.4x TC and mounted on a Sony A1 II. On this photo tour - as well as during testing prior to the photo tour - this gear combination performed spectacularly - it's as good (or better) as ANY 800mm lens option I've ever shot with. It's tack sharp at all commonly used apertures, including when shot absolutely wide open at f5.6. Ya gotta love it!

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of this toothy River Otter:

• On the Edge - Northern River Otter: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 4.9 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

3. This image was captured during my Spring in the Southern Great Bear Instructional photo tour in late spring of 2026. Each year I offer photo tours into the Great Bear Rainforest and, every other year, photo tours into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary (to photograph grizzlies, of course!). Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

On the Edge - Northern River Otter. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. June 1, 2026.

Compressed RAW (ARW) format; ISO 1250.

Sony A1 II paired with Sony FE 600mm f4 GM OSS lens with Sony 1.4x TC (840mm). Hand-held from floating Zodiac inflatable boat. OSS on and set to Mode 1. Expand Spot (tracking) AF area mode with subject recognition mode set to Animal/Bird.

1/2000s @ f5.6; -1.7 stop compensation from multi-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

On the Edge - Northern River Otter. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. June 1, 2026.

Initial noise reduction and capture sharpening on the .arw (raw) file using the DeepPRIME XD3 algorithm of DXO PhotoLab 9.5 Elite (using the appropriate camera/lens module).

Subsequent adjustments to the adjusted linear DNG file (exported from PhotoLab) and conversion to 16-bit TIFF file (and JPEG files for web use) - including all global and selective adjustments - made using Capture One Pro (build 16.8). In the case of this image only one global adjustment was made - a reduction of the highlights. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case numerous small adjustments and minor tweaks were made on 7 separate layers, with the tweaks being associated with "exposure balancing" and contrast adjustments (such as adjustments to brightness, clarity, highlights, shadows, blacks, etc.).

Photoshop modifications included insertion of the watermark and/or text.

Conservation

On the Edge - Northern River Otter. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. June 1, 2026.

Species Status in Canada*: Not listed as endangered or threatened.

The Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis) is a semi-aquatic mammal that is widely distributed on the North American continent, especially within Canada. This large member of the weasel family is strongly associated with waterways and typically establishes burrows close to the water's edge in rivers, lakes, swamps, coastal shorelines, tidal flats or estuaries. Most studies suggest that population densities are highest in coastal regions.

River otters primarily eat an "aquatic" diet that is dominated by (but not limited to) "coarse" fish of low or no economic value to humans. Besides fish, river otters will consume amphibians, clams, mussels, snails, small turtles and crayfish.

One of the most striking behaviors of river otters is their apparent love of playing, and they have been documented repeatedly sliding down wet rocks/boulders and snow covered hills. Groups of otters (known as "romps") are particularly playful.

13 species of otters exist worldwide. The Northern River Otter (found only in North America) is the only of the 13 species that is not considered endangered or threatened. Its range in North America has, however, has been significantly reduced by habitat loss.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada