An exciting night on OtterCam

I am still not completely sure what went on here.  This episode was seen by three cameras which between them recorded 64 video clips of 20 seconds each over the course of 20 minutes. That is by far the most otter activity I have seen on the cameras in four years and the first time I have seen four otters together.

To give an idea of the excitement and chaos I'll post the first clip from each of the three cameras separately.

This is how it started.  This is the view from the top camera.  The mother otter appeared to challenge the dog at the edge of the water before chasing him in, back out, and back in again. The dog was unsure of the female's intentions and jumped out again, just as a startled cub appeared.  There are no cuts in the video.

Here is the simultaneous recording from the middle camera.

The bottom camera was slightly slower to trigger and the first two otters were already entering the water as it started recording.

Here is a version with the three cameras cut together.

After that there was a lot of splashing in the water, mostly out of view as I don't have camera looking out over the water.  At the very beginning of the next video the two adult otters were in the water together and they swam off leaving the cubs squeaking on the bank.  Eventually it calmed down bit and over the next few minutes both of the cubs went into the water and swam out of view.  I can't show it all but here is a taste of the activity. These are fragments and not consecutive.

Several minutes later the dog got out and came up the bank.  Another five minutes later mother came out and hurried up the bank with the two cubs keeping very close to her.  And then three minutes later the dog went back in and swam off and there were no more recordings that night.

I think this is the dog showing interest, the mother either warning him off or, perhaps more likely, encouraging him, and the cubs frightened and puzzled by it all.  The cubs will leave the mother soon and either before or after that the female will be interested in mating again to start another litter.  The dog is likely to hang around until his luck changes.  It will be interesting to see if the cubs are still with their mother next week.