Sea Otters, Icy Strait, Alaska #3360

Two adult sea otters rest in a kelp bed in Icy Strait. By the time the United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 sea otter populations in Alaska had been hunted almost to extinction by the Russians. One of the last remaining colonies of sea otters survived on Amchitka Island in the remote Aleutian Islands. This island later became an underground atomic nuclear test site. In 1965-1971 some 600 sea otters were moved from Amchitka to the outside coast of Southeast Alaska around Cross Sound. This surviving group repopulated Icy Strait and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve to the present state of great abundance. This pair of sea otters is the October illustration in my 2025 Alaska Calendar which is available at markkelley.com and in your Juneau stores. I will be at the Public Market signing calendars Nov 29-through December 1. Thank you for visiting and for the gift of your time, enjoy!  Camera Nikon D850, Lens 80-400mm, Digital Capture, ©Mark Kelley