Aren't otters the cutest?
There have been a surprising amount of otter sightings around Vancouver over the past few years. They pop up in unexpected places and bring comfort during hard times. Even Ryan Reynolds couldn't resist the otter cuteness.
This week, Sept. 18-24, is also Sea Otter Awareness Week and the Vancouver Aquarium shared some adorable photos and videos of their resident sea otters.
But the aquarium isn't the only place to see the adorable critters.
Otters have been spotted all over Vancouver and from playing around in the snow to the koi-eating otter saga of 2018, these encounters are hard to forget.
In fact, otters were iconic Vancouver creatures from way back... in the 1980s when Tillicum the sea otter was made one of Vancouver's official mascots. One Vancouver otter even had a book written about him.
Anyone remember when one hungry otter stole fish (and hearts) from a fish market? How about the time a hungry otter slurped up a fair share of koi fish from the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. The city brought in an expert to trap the rogue otter, but to no avail, and had to resort to evacuating the koi fish. The iconic otter even has its own Instagram account.
This otter made a surprise appearance in one Vancouver couple's backyard, meanwhile this playful otter took a dip in someone's pool.
Once the colder seasons came around, there were plenty of these furry creatures fluffing up the snow. While some prefer to slip and slide, one otter tried to skate.
At the Vancouver Aquarium, otters were making snowballs. Though, no snowball fights were had.
Onlookers could also admire the otters in other seasons through the aquarium's otter livestream, which has helped many Vancouverites through the pandemic.
The aquarium's resident otters are equally irresistible, like this orphan otter pup that moved into the aquarium in 2020. The resident sea otter couple will make your face hurt from smiling too. If you want to cry from cuteness, look at this baby otter timelapse where you can see the pups grow up.
Not even Ryan Reynolds could look away from their cute little faces. We hope he didn't actually duct-tape his phone to his forehead like he said he was going to.
These otters made it hard to look away too, but not in an adorable way. It isn't every day that you see otters getting it on in broad daylight.
A more common and more family-friendly sight was this family of otters scuttling under the Lions Gate Bridge.
Until your time comes to see these iconic critters up close, take a look at these insanely adorable photos.
