For fans of famous Greater Victoria critters, 2026 is not shaping up to be a good year.
Joining the Empress Hotel’s yellow-bellied marmot Roger on the missing list is the notorious “Salish Sea serial killer,” Ollie the sea otter.
Typically found living his life among the kelp at Race Rocks ecological reserve, Ollie has not been sighted since November last year.
As well as losing some teeth, Valerie Shore, a senior naturalist at Eagle Wing Tours, says Ollie was last seen with an “enormous growth on his shoulder.”
“I reported the growth to the Vancouver Aquarium vet who could only speculate on what it was, but none of the options he suggested sounded like a good outcome for Ollie,” she said.
“He had also cracked off one canine and was losing or wearing down some of his smaller teeth, and for a sea otter, strong teeth are critical for cracking into shelled prey.
“We have no way of knowing for sure if he’s dead but it’s not looking good.”
Estimated to be well over 12 years old, solitary Ollie earned his blood-thirsty reputation because of his behaviour towards river otters who made the mistake of cruising through his territory.
Speaking to Sooke News Mirror last year, Mollie Cameron from Sooke Coastal Explorations estimated he was responsible for the deaths of at least 20 river otters, some of his victims showing visible signs of sexual trauma.
“He’s been seen doing nefarious things with them for days on end after they’ve died,” said Cameron in January 2025.
Ollie the sea otter has not been seen in Greater Victoria waters since November 2025. (Mollie Cameron/Sooke Coastal Explorations)
Despite his ‘serial killer’ tag, the marine mammal was a beloved favourite among the whale watching community, others giving him the more family-friendly title of the “Ollie the lonely sea otter.”
Ollie, who has a distinctive nose scar, is one of a small handful of sea otters regularly seen in the Salish Sea. They can be found in much greater numbers farther up Vancouver Island and on the western Olympic Peninsula.
However, more could be moving into the area.
As part of its research program, which includes photo-documentation of whales and collection of humpback fecal samples, Eagle Wing Tours documents sea otters in the area, sharing the data collected with regional researchers.
Shore says in 2025, the team observed approximately 15 to 20 individual sea otters passing through the Salish Sea, ranging from southern San Juan Island to mid-Strait of Juan de Fuca.
“And those are just the ones we encountered,” she says. “So there seems to be a bit of a revolving door of sea otters in the southern Salish Sea.”
While Ollie’s fate appears to be sealed, hope remains on land for the Empress’ rotund rodent Roger.
Coincidentally, like Ollie, the marmot has not been seen since November last year. Typically, he awakes from his winter hibernation in the spring at his home in the hotel’s Centennial Garden rockery, which is nicknamed the “best harbour front suite in Victoria.”
Fairmont’s director of public relations Lisa McPhail confirmed July 7, “there has been no official sighting yet.”
Not native to the Island, local legend says the yellow-bellied marmot hitched a ride from Alberta on board an RV, travelling to Victoria where he made his home in the grounds of the Inner Harbour hotel in 2008.
McPhail says the hotel remains optimistic and continues to monitor the Centennial Garden rockery for signs he has woken from his slumber.
READ MORE: Death on the Strait: Sooke sea otter exposed as ‘Salish Sea serial killer’.
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