Adult-sized brown-and-white otter in a forested area near water, partly cloudy sky suggesting late spring or summer daylight conditions. 1:47
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Spy otter with camera eyes gets a warm hello

One of the two sea otters floating here is a fake, with cameras where its eyes should be. The real sea otter takes a look and decides the stranger is harmless. more

The spy floats in slowly. Its job, as the narration puts it, is to "infiltrate their world," and it gets about as close as anyone could. Up close it is not quite as cute as the real thing, and plenty of people find those camera eyes a little unsettling.

The wild otter doesn't swim away. Instead he reaches out to the stranger, a greeting that looks a lot like a hug. It's the sweetest moment of the meeting.

Adult-sized brown-and-white otter in a forested area near water, partly cloudy sky suggesting late spring or summer daylight conditions. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
One of the two sea otters floating here is a fake, with cameras where its eyes should be.

Then he gets on with his day, and wherever he goes, the spy goes too. It even rolls over for a clear view as he dives. He swims to the bottom and comes back up with a stone.

Now comes the clever part. He floats on his back, sets the stone on his chest like an anvil and bangs a shellfish against it, gripping it tight in his paws. Water splashes up around his face. This is how sea otters crack even the toughest shell, and he gets his open and eats.

A sea otter floats on its back holding food in its paws, with water droplets splashing around its face. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Floating on his back, the otter cracks his shellfish as water splashes around his face.

The spy otter will never crack a shell of its own. All it does is watch, and it gets closer to this otter's daily routine than any person could.