There were extremely high tides during the first week of our Kodiak Brown Bear adventure, somewhat hampering our access to bears. Much of the grassy flats where we successfully photographed bears last spring was under water during prime photography hours. Sometimes, when the tides went out, the water was so low we couldn’t make our way across the gravely sandbars. We did see bears during that first week though and some other critters as well, like those adorable Sea Otters. Rafts of Sea Otters greeted us each time we ventured out in the skiffs, watching us closely as we motored by and disappearing under water if we got too close. One evening when we were headed back to camp, the other skiff got hung up on a sandbar and it was going to take some time to extricate so Hiram, our guide, took advantage of the situation and Eric, Javier, and I had a few minutes to photograph a small group of Sea Otters. It was about 8:30 PM and the setting sun warmed the scene as this older Sea Otter floated nearby and seemed to ponder our presence in his waters.