Floating off the south coast of Vancouver Island is a lonely-looking sea otter with a dark secret 鈥� many dark secrets.
Known to the whale watching community and his fans as 鈥極llie鈥�, the infamous 13-year-old sea otter has been living out his life among the kelp at Race Rocks ecological reserve for over a decade.
Initially nicknamed the 鈥榣onely sea otter鈥� because of his solitary lifestyle, in more recent years he has had a rather more sinister title bestowed upon him.
Meet Ollie, the 鈥淪alish Sea Serial Killer,鈥� a cute, furry sea otter with a dark side and a rap sheet longer than the 鈥楥olwood crawl鈥� at rush hour.
Thought to be responsible for the deaths of around 20 river otters 鈥� probably more as the marine mammal is not under 24-hour surveillance 鈥� Ollie has earned himself quite the blood-thirsty reputation.
鈥淯sually when river otters are seen in the area [of Race Rocks], they鈥檙e not seen again,鈥� says Mollie Cameron, who first encountered Ollie in 2016, working for a Sooke-based whale watching company.
Showing some level of attachment to his victims, Cameron says Ollie will carry the dead body 鈥渓ike a teddy bear鈥� for days after the killing.
鈥淚t almost looks like the way a sea otter mom would carry a pup,鈥� said Cameron, who is also the director of Sooke-based wildlife education organization, Wild Wise. 鈥淗e'll drape them over himself while he's swimming and eating, and leave them up on rocks when he goes diving.鈥�
And Ollie doesn鈥檛 stop at 鈥渙ttercide,鈥� his list of crimes grows longer the deeper. His river otter victims show visible signs of sexual trauma.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been seen doing nefarious things with them for days on end after they've died,鈥� said Cameron.
While they can鈥檛 be certain, Cameron and others in the whale-watching community believe the sea otter is not feeding on his victims.
鈥淭hey normally eat invertebrates like crabs, snails, urchins, clams, abalone and mussels,鈥� she said.
So why is Ollie killing and defiling river otters? Cameron says the behaviour could be attributed to his 鈥榣onely鈥� lifestyle, as he is one of only a handful of sea otters recorded this far east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
鈥淭he theory is that there's no females around,鈥� she says, noting there was a female sea otter and a pup spotted once in the area in 2023, who disappeared as fast as they appeared.
鈥淎nd so he鈥檚 just taking his sexual frustration out on the river otters, as that's kind of his only outlet, supposedly. There鈥檚 all that testosterone pumping, so he鈥檚 probably trying to satiate himself in some way.鈥�
But the behaviour is not unique to Ollie, explains Cameron.
In the early 鈥�00s, nearly 20 cases of sexual behaviour between male sea otters and juvenile harbour seals were observed in California 鈥� most incidents were fatal for the seal.
Similar to the theory about Ollie鈥檚 behaviour, a lack of females in the vicinity was blamed for the attacks in California.
Sooke鈥檚 newest sea otter on the scene, 鈥榃hiffin', who was photographed attempting to ride tandem with a surfer, is also thought to be taking his frustrations out on other wildlife; slaying ducks in the process.
鈥淚 would assume it's maybe for the same reason that Ollie kills the river otters,鈥� said Cameron.
With the species having a reputation as playful, cute and intelligent 鈥� sea otters are the only marine mammal known to use stone tools 鈥� people might be surprised to hear Ollie has the upper hand on his river otter rivals, who were once described by a Central Saanich man as 鈥渧ile, evil and nasty creatures.鈥�
鈥淪ea otters are the bigger of the two,鈥� says Cameron. 鈥淓very animal has the potential to be dangerous 鈥� sea otters are no exception to that.鈥�
Living offshore, out of sight from humans, means the 鈥榗rimes鈥� of sea otters like Ollie most often go unnoticed, explains the wildlife expert. But for river otters who live closer to humans in abundance, it鈥檚 not so easy to escape public scrutiny.
鈥淪o there's higher opportunity for negative interaction with with pets and people,鈥� Cameron said.
While the likes of Ollie and Whiffin might not be a welcome sight for some of their wild neighbours, for Cameron their presence represents a slow comeback to the area for the animal listed as 'special concern' under the Species at Risk Act.
Hunted for their dense fur 鈥� on one square inch of a sea otter, there can be anywhere from 500,000 to a million hair follicles 鈥� sea otters were extirpated from the B.C. coast in the early 1900s.
鈥淏etween 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters, taken from Alaska, were reintroduced to the coast of British Columbia,鈥� said Cameron.
But while the marine mammal can be seen rafting in big groups in places like Tofino, numbers remain small off the south coast of Vancouver Island.
鈥淚n the many years that I've been a whale watching captain, I think I've only seen four individuals,鈥� says Cameron. 鈥淔ive, including the Whiffin Spit sea otter.鈥�
As the population shows signs of a slow increase, the biggest threat to sea otters remains the same as it did in the early 1900s: humans.
鈥淭here is quite a bit of poaching that still happens with sea otters,鈥� says Cameron. 鈥淗umans, at the end of the day, are the biggest threat in general.鈥�
To help support Ollie and his fellow local sea otters, Cameron recommends keeping a safe distance of at least 100 metres at all times, encouraging the animal to stay wild and not become habituated to humans.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to view animals in their wild habitats, but maintaining that respect for them while being in their homes is so important,鈥� she says.
As for Ollie's future, Cameron is curious to see how the animal might react if more sea otters were to move to the area and if it might change his savage behaviour.
But in the meantime, river otters beware 鈥� you might want to give Race Rocks a wide berth for now.
