Yet another sea otter in Alaska’s Kachemak Bay has been spotted gobbling down a giant Pacific octopus.
This rarely seen predatory coup was photographed by Juneau resident Emma Luck, who works as a deckhand and naturalist with Rainbow Tours charters. Luck and her colleagues were out on Kachemak Bay when the sea otter surfaced with its impressive meal.
The giant Pacific octopus can reach 15 feet across and weigh nearly 50 pounds. The animals’ 2,000 suckers and meaty arms are so strong that they can leave hickeys on skin, and even grown men struggle to budge them. And yet one of Alaska’s cutest inhabitants seems to have no problem taking down these mighty cephalopods.
My octopus! Image: Emma Luck, Rainbow Tours/Facebook
It’s unclear whether this particular otter chased down its “eight-legged” lunch or simply scavenged the carcass, but this wouldn’t be the first time an otter-on-octopus hunt has been seen in the area.
Image: Emma Luck, Rainbow Tours/Facebook
Image: Emma Luck, Rainbow Tours/Facebook
“We usually see otters with octopus once or twice a summer,” says Luck. “It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does it’s always very cool to watch. The octopus are huge … often larger than the otters themselves. I would love to see how they manage to catch them!”
Don’t let that button nose fool you: these “cuddly” mammals pack hefty teeth. (And as we’ve discussed before, touching a wild sea otter can land you in a world of trouble.) Image: Emma Luck, Rainbow Tours/Facebook
Image: Emma Luck, Rainbow Tours/Facebook