Imagemaster Offline Upload & Sell: On
|
Female Bald Eagles weigh an average of 12 lbs., and males 9 lbs. They can't lift off and fly away with prey that weighs more than half their body weight. An adult River Otter weighs anywhere from 11 to 30 pounds.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=343
With the recent herring spawn, there have been high numbers of Bald Eagles in the area. Besides catching fish, the eagles will routinely try and pick off any type of duck or other seabird from the ocean. They will even go for loons and cormorants, even though they may not be able to fly back to shore with them. Some eagles will even try and snatch fish from sea lions or river otters.
River Otters are very strong, with good claws and teeth, and they can easily come up from underneath and kill a Canada Goose or swan
I neither photographed nor saw the following, but it was related to me by a reliable source. Off Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island, BC, an eagle attacked a river otter in the ocean. During this encounter, two accompanying otters joined the fight and the eagle was killed. The eagle could have been trying to snatch a fish from the otter, or perhaps it was just a young eagle and/or one that made a deadly mistake in judgement.
|