Whilst out with clients walking to a more remote, less visited part of Mull yesterday, on the most perfect of autumnal days, I spotted two sea eagles perched on boulders on the shore.
We stopped to watch them and they soon took off and started to dive at something in the water. At first I thought they were after something dead floating in the sea, but I soon saw the real reason for their attacks. There was an otter!
A third eagle appeared, all juveniles, and the three of them took it in turns attacking this adult otter. The otter had no food and they attacked it in and out of the water.
Sea eagles, more correctly known as white-tailed eagles, are well known to practice kleptoparasitism, the habit of stealing food from another species. I have seen them do this on Mull, stealing fish from otters. I even heard about an incident on Mull where the otter refused to let go of its fish and the eagle took off with the fish AND the otter for a short while before the otter let go and dropped back onto the shore.
I once saw an adult sea eagle try very seriously to catch a very young otter cub, but the cub managed to evade its attack and was then backed up by its mother who chased the eagle away.
We watched for more than half an hour as the eagles followed the otter around swooping at it as it fished and after it had come ashore. Sometimes coming within inches of contact. The otter would dive with a big panicked splash as the eagles talons raked the air just above its head, and later as the otter came ashore shook itself and had a little roll in the seaweed, the eagles were still hounding it, swooping in and sometimes looking like they were seriously trying to catch it, then perching on a nearby boulder and keeping a beady eye on the otter.
At one point one of the eagles came over to us to check out what we were doing, flying very low over our heads circling us, as if to weigh up if we were potential prey too, giving myself and my clients an incredible close view of this magnificent bird.
I suspect that rather than seriously trying to kill this otter, they were just entertaining themselves. Playing or practicing their skills at the otter’s expense. The reaction from the otter, the fact that it did not make more of an effort to hide completely, suggests to me that these attacks were not serious attempts at this otter’s life, and even perhaps, that this otter had experienced this kind of harassment before.
White-tailed eagles are the largest bird of prey in the UK, with a wingspan of up to eight feet. They are more than capable of taking a prey item as large as an otter, although like most predators, they prefer to stick to prey that is easier and less dangerous to catch.
Golden eagles are well known to be able to hunt as a team to catch their prey. They have been seen on Mull and further afield swooping at a herd of red deer close to a cliff top, in the hope of panicking one over the edge.
I had a client recently who had photographed a golden eagle chasing and even grabbing the deer’s back on moorland. This was also a juvenile, so this may also have been a young bird just “playing” or practicing its skills, or perhaps it was seriously trying to hobble the deer so that it could more easily kill it, or even wait for it to die.
I am unsure if sea eagles have been witnessed hunting successfully as a team. The eagles eventually dispersed and the otter disappeared across a gravel bar.
These once-in-a-lifetime wildlife encounters are the days I most look forward to. I love my job.
Daniel Brooks is a wildlife guide, adventure seeker, conservation campaigner, forager, bushcrafter, and rewilder. His website is mullman.co.uk