48 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
otter, and who, the moment the otter dives, quickly 
gets his boat into its new position and stationary, 
with its head pointing in the direction in which the 
otter is most likely to appear, will be the most suc¬ 
cessful, the probabilities being that the otter will 
come up nearer to his boat than to either of the 
others if they have not followed the same tactics. 
The reason of this is that the otter when under 
water can hear very distinctly any sound made in 
a boat, and will naturally turn away from it. Often 
have I had to draw the attention of my hunters to 
this, when they have remarked: “ The otters always 
seem to come up nearer to your boat than to ours. 55 
The sea-otters of the Kuril Islands are particu¬ 
larly fine, some of the handsomest skins which find 
their way into the London market being taken there. 
The favourite haunts of the animal are off the rocky 
points and reefs where kelp is plentiful. Here the 
otter will find abundant food, and, when unmolested 
by the hunter, can lie up in comfort in the kelp- 
beds, where it is always smooth, no matter how 
heavily the sea may be breaking outside. The ends 
of the islands on the Pacific side are the most fre¬ 
quented places. Otters are rarely found on the 
Okotsk or north-west sides of the islands. The 
reasons for this are that the south-east or Pacific 
side is the lee side during the severe winter and 
spring weather, and they are not so liable to be 
hemmed in by ice-floes. In the summer it is the 
foggy side, thus offering greater protection against 
their human enemies. 
After a period of rest from being hunted, the 
otters will “ school up. 55 When this is the case, the 
boats may pull for many hours without “ raising 55 
