Whilst it is clearly silly to think of organisms trying to evolve, we cannot deny that animals have goals and purposes, and these can be sophisticated and feedback into selection. So in the case of otters evolving webbed feet and other features useful in an aquatic environment, which of the following scenarios is most likely 1 Otter ancestor mutates to have webbed feet and takes up fishing. 2 Otter ancestor being adaptable and inquisitive discovers fishing and subsequent selection of mutations make it a more efficient hunter in the water.
I would say number 2, the impetus of speciation being a physiological attribute (how much genetically determined I don't know)