Wrangell Sentinel -

As he neared the end of an ocean swim just south of Sitka earlier this month, Dean Orbison felt a pain in his foot and thought he’d kicked a rock. But when the pain recurred, he stopped to look around and was startled by what he saw. A river otter was in hot pursuit and biting at his feet.

“I was about 50 yards from the boat on my way back and I felt something bite at my foot and I turned around and thought, ‘That was weird.’ But I didn’t see anything. I thought I must have just kicked a rock, because I was in a really shallow rocky place. … I swam two more strokes and then I go...