And another reader report: Otter killed by car at Duwamish Head

This recent post from the WSB Forums, expressing concern for an otter known to cross Alki Ave., apparently was sadly prescient. This just came in a short time ago from Randy:

Yet another reason to drive cautiously along Alki: Around 9:00 PM Friday night, I watched as an otter attempted to cross the street directly across from the viewpoint at Duwamish Head. As it bounded across the roadway it was struck and run over by a Lincoln Towncar limo, which did not stop. All that could be done was to drag its body off the roadway.

Side note – the otters in Puget Sound are river otters, not sea otters.

12 Replies to "And another reader report: Otter killed by car at Duwamish Head"

  • miws June 14, 2008 (4:42 am)

    :(

  • WW June 14, 2008 (8:38 am)

    How horrible! I almost hit a otter once in May of 2002 while driving southbound on Hwy 99 near Sears (near where the water is close to Alaskan Way). It crossed the train tracks and looked like it wanted to cross 99, but then figured out it couldn’t get over the median. I saw it ahead of me as it entered the roadway and at first I thought it was a dog, but then I realized that’s no dog! I swerved to avoid it and luckily it turned back just in time avoiding being hit by three lanes of traffic including a dump truck. It was around the same time that there was a goose and her goslings nesting right next to Hwy 99. Incredible but true!

  • Rhonda Porter June 14, 2008 (9:18 am)

    Last week we noticed a small dead otter on the beach at the bottom of the stairs across from Me-Kwa-Mooks.

    Over a year ago, we found a dead otter on Beach Drive by Emma Schmitz. It made me so sad. People drive so fast and many wouldn’t expect to see an creature so low to the ground trying to cross the street.

    They’re such cute critters…sad.

  • doglover June 14, 2008 (10:05 am)

    Oh that’s so sad :(

  • D June 14, 2008 (10:31 am)

    I bet limos cause alot more global warming than alki beach fires (and they kill otters) maybe the city should ban them instead.

    oh wait, they won’t because rich politicians love limos and hate things that poor people do, like light fires on the beach.

  • GreenSpaces June 14, 2008 (12:00 pm)

    What bothers me most about animal death is that someone just lost their mommy or their daddy or their child and that animal family will never know how or why, they will only know they never were to be seen again.

  • snowlion June 14, 2008 (12:01 pm)

    Poor baby. Post heeded, though; if there is one thing I would NOT expect to see crossing a street, it would be an otter. I appreciate the heads-up.

  • WSB June 14, 2008 (12:41 pm)

    As we mentioned in the forum thread that’s linked in the post, we recall seeing otters (or maybe just one) crossing Alki in the restaurant/promenade area dating back to our arrival in the early ’90s … I remember one in particular that just galumphed down toward the dumpsters in the alley by the old Pegasus location. My thought, oddly, was that it must hurt to cross cold bumpy pavement if you are used to spending most of your time in the water.

  • d June 14, 2008 (1:02 pm)

    That is sad. :( Otters are cool.

    Might seem like a joke, but there are actually places around the south where “Turtle Crossing” signs are posted along roads to protect endangered box turtles who roam across highways which interrupt their home range/territories.

  • jana June 14, 2008 (2:07 pm)

    So sad. If the city is so concerned with the environment why not start with protecting the wildlife that’s already there; time to post some “Otter Crossing” signs up and down Alki and Beach Dr. SW in the areas that they nest. Might as well throw in some signs to educate people about the seal pups that rest on the beach also.

    My parents had a nest in their back yard on Beach Dr. SW and it was very stinky!

  • thriftwaygirl June 15, 2008 (12:39 am)

    :(

  • onceachef June 16, 2008 (4:16 pm)

    he should have tried to go “an-otter” way…sorry, couldn’t resist….I do feel bad fot the litlle fella.

Sorry, comment time is over.