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Mother Mom Sea Otter Holds Pup. 7 of 9 Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris), mother, mom, female, marine mammal, with her Nd holding her baby pup (one of several pair in the area together), as seen near Target Rock in the Morro Bay harbor entrance south of Morro Rock in Morro Bay, CA 28 Nov 209. Photo by Michael "Mike" L. Baird, mike [at} mikebaird d o t com, flickr.bairdphotos.com; Canon 1D Mark III, Canon 600mm f/4.0 Lens with Circular Polarizer (it had a significant effect) resting on a large bean bag on a rock at water's edge about three feet above water level. Tech Note: I needed my better Beamer flash - lacking that, I overexposed one full stop to get the details in the dark fur, at the expense of washing out some detail in the background. This set has a bit of a dull look, less vibrant than normal, due probably to the harsh sunlight. * This was a bit blurry and not tack sharp, but I liked the pose here and it looks ok at the large thumbnail size anyway. Too bad the Mom's eyes were not open more. I took hundreds of shots (filled an 8GB card, shoot RAW of course) trying to get a better one, until I lost all the light at day's end.   CC use at content.sierraclub.org/mypieceofamerica/california-coast   30 Jan 2014 submitted UK Media Request form to Pesala @ News Dog Media which may restrict future paid licensing... [News Dog Media Photographer's/ Contributor’s Syndication Contract  Name.........Michael L. Baird........ Email ......mike@mikebaird.com......   Telephone ......805 704-2064 (USA)..... Mobile ...... 805 704-2064 (USA)......   Address .................2756 Indigo Circle, Morro Bay, CA 93442 USA................ Town.......Morro Bay, CA..........Country ........USA.........   The photographer (as defined above) and News Dog Media (the Agency) agree to enter into an arrangement whereby the Agency will be allowed to syndicate image(s) sent to News Dog Media by the photographer.   With the following Terms and Conditions:  1. Full copyright of the image(s) remains with the Photographer. 2. The Agency is allowed to exclusively distribute, and invoice for subsequent usage of the image(s) to UK-based newspapers and their associated online editions. 3. The Agency is also allowed to exclusively distribute, and invoice for, subsequent usage of the image(s) to international media, including newspapers, magazines and websites. 4. The Photographer will be paid 50% of all payments received by the Agency, for the use of their image(s). 5. The Photographer confirms that these images will not be marketed elsewhere (via other agencies, media organisations, or direct to publications), for the duration of this agreement, and that sales enquiries will be directed to The Agency.  6. The duration of the agreement is three months, after which time it will be a rolling monthly-basis contract at which point either party may terminate this agreement immediately. 7. Photographer has the right to participate with these images in international exhibitions, photo contests, participate in the catalogues, albums and place them in a photo sites and social networks. 8. The Agency is allowed to exclusively distribute, and invoice for subsequent usage of the image(s) to be used in the UK and worldwide for posters/postcards. ]  1/31/2014 I said for the article Pesala , pictures [at} newsdogmedia.co d o t uk you can download the largest original photo at www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/4142836106/sizes/o/  but I've also attached it.  Note that the related Wikipedia article on sea otters also features many of my photos en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otter which you are free to use, even commercially, and the source is available at wiki. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_otter_cropped.jpg  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mother_sea_otter_with_rare_twi...  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea-otter-morro-bay_on-back.jpg  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea-otter-morro-bay_13.jpg This file was a candidate in Picture of the Year 2008. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_otter_with_injured_nose.JPG  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea-otter-bay_11.jpg  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_otter_nursing02.jpg This is a featured picture, which means that members of the community have identified it as one of the finest images on the English Wikipedia,   Your full name: "Mike" Michael L. Baird Age: 68 Job title: Retired Internet Entrepreneur Which town/country do you live in: Morro Bay, CA, USA Job Occupation: Photographer/Entrepreneur/Computer Scientist  Can you tell me about yourself? How did you become interested in photography? Online bios (can you pick a paragraph you might like best from this list?) bairdphotos.com/bio/index.htm plus.google.com/+MichaelBaird/about/p/pub mikebaird.com/firstonline/resumes/mike/index.htm  "Mike's Askjeeves ask.com co-workers gave him one of the first Kodak digital cameras as a retirement gift in 2000, and that became the start of a decade of his interest in nature photography."   Can you describe what we see in your pictures in your own words? This image of a mother sea otter holding up her pup is a rather unusual posture and behavior capture... while mom otters constantly nurture their babies for 5-8 months, usually placing the pup on the mom's tummy and constantly grooming and fluffing the fur, moms rarely hold them up for inspection.  ref. library.thinkquest.org/CR0215242/sea_otters.htm  Why was this happening? The adult mother otter was repositioning her baby pup to groom and fluff its fur, and in the process held up her pup as to display and admire it.  Do you know what the relationship between the sea otters pictured is? This is a mother baby pair. The males are, as usual, nowhere to be seen, as the males do not participate in the upbringing process (nurturing, feeding, etc). There are typically 20 adult sea otters in the Morro Bay, CA harbor entrance near Morro Rock. As many as half of these female adults will have a baby otter with them. The mom will float on her back, and the baby will be perched on her tummy out of the water.  Do you need special access to create these kinds of images? Access to this location s open to the public, and is on City and/or California State Park property. By law, observers in kayaks, for example, must stay at a distance from the otters so as not to harass them.  In practice, these otters anchor themselves in the kelp as close as 10-30 meters from the shore, and photographers and nature lovers can sit at the water's edge and safely observe them.  What kind of reaction do you get from people when they see your pictures? Everyone loves otter photos, and they really love sea otter pup images... they are so cute!   Is there an ecological message that you have? Sea otters are endangered  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otter Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1] In most of its range, it is a keystone species, controlling sea urchin populations which would otherwise inflict extensive damage to kelp forest ecosystems. Its diet includes prey species that are also valued by humans as food, leading to conflicts between sea otters and fisheries. The Morro Bay, CA sea otter population represents one of the most successful recovery stories in the USA. Here is an unfortunate personal story of a sea otter killed with a pellet gun in Morro Bay. I documented the necropsy and evidence for reporting this crime. www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/sets/72157624227202983/ says in part "Necropsy Documentation 2010-06-24-dead-sea-otter. See the video at www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/4732492376/in/set-7215762... for the bullet discovery part of the necropsy. This female sea otter pup, 77cm length, was found dead on Morro Strand State Beach 24 June 2010. It was reported to Mike Harris of CA Fish and Game, who retrieved it..."  Is there any other information you would like to include? We have created an effective social network for local photographers called photomorrobay photomorrobay.com/ where 393 members actively share ides groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/photomorrobay/info and photos www.flickr.com/groups/photomorrobay/  which has resulted in many examples of photographers assisting in local ecological and conservation projects.  A few quick facts: Where did you capture this? Morro Bay, CA USA   When did you capture this? November 29, 2009  Here are some technical notes: Mother Mom Sea Otter Holds Pup. 7 of 9 Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris), mother, mom, female, marine mammal, with her Nd holding her baby pup (one of several pair in the area together), as seen near Target Rock in the Morro Bay harbor entrance south of Morro Rock in Morro Bay, CA 28 Nov 209. Photo by Michael "Mike" L. Baird, mike [at} mikebaird d o t com, flickr.bairdphotos.com; Canon 1D Mark III, Canon 600mm f/4.0 Lens with Circular Polarizer (it had a significant effect) resting on a large bean bag on a rock at water's edge about three feet above water level. Tech Note: I needed my better Beamer flash - lacking that, I overexposed one full stop to get the details in the dark fur, at the expense of washing out some detail in the background. This set has a bit of a dull look, less vibrant than normal, due probably to the harsh sunlight. * This was a bit blurry and not tack sharp, but I liked the pose here and it looks ok at the large thumbnail size anyway. Too bad the Mom's eyes were not open more. I took hundreds of shots (filled an 8GB card, shoot RAW of course) trying to get a better one, until I lost all the light at day's end.  Cheers, Mike Baird