Otter Heaven Contd. (Day 7)

Mull just wouldn't Mull without the odd puncture... and so it was on this trip too. Luckily it was just a slow puncture and I managed to fix it temporarily with that poxy-resin tyre filler. Certainly works well if you are stranded and I can definitely recommend having it in the car.

After a couple of days I decided to get the tyre replace (the resin is just a short-term fix). While the car was with the mechanic, I took a wander down into Craignure Harbour. I was gob-smacked to find two otters swimming about the moored boats! I ran back to the car, grabbed the camera and legged it back.
There was a male and female fishing for crabs. The male caught one every few minutes and always went back to the same spot. I stealthily worked round to be level with him on the rocks and began shooting. He was totally relaxed - maybe because of the amount of people, smells and traffic nearby. I wish I'd brought the 600mm as the 300mm and 1.4x Tc were not quite long enough. Plus there was just open water between us so there was no way of getting any closer. I decided to compose more enviro shots and was happy with this portrait showing the harbour ferry pier in the background.

I spent about 20mins watching and photographing as the dog otter repeatedly emerged from the water with a large green shore crab, ran along the rocks, and devoured it, before diving in for more. I made the most of it by capturing the moments where the otter either entered of left the water - the point where its two worlds merge. It made me think that one day, in order to have the complete story, I will also need to go underwater! After one last crab, the dog otter swam along the shore, fishing for more crabs, but even though I followed for a mile or more, he never came to shore.