DETROIT Officials said that the first sighting of a river Otter in the Detroit River in over 100 years is a sign that the watershed environment has improved.
While on a walk near to the Ambassador Bridge, a University of Windsor doctoral student spotted the semi-aquatic mammal. Reports on Great Lakes Now. Eric Ste Marie managed to capture photo evidence of this phenomenon, making it a official sighting.
The North American riverotter lived in southeast Michigan up until the arrival European fur traders. Great Lakes Now has learned that the species was removed from the Detroit River in 1900s. Gearld Wykes, a Monroe County Museum System historian, said that the species was extinct.
The species has been returned to Midwest waters over the past three decades, but the species is only now appearing in the Detroit River. This is a promising sign, the report stated.
Ste Marie shared that this sighting makes me optimistic that the Detroit River ecosystem will soon heal and that these types of sightings will become more common.
This file photo depicts a North American river-otter at Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Recently, a river-otter was spotted in the Detroit River for its first time in over 100 years. This indicates that the river’s environmental conditions are improving.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
River otters can weigh between 10 and 33 lbs and measure 2.5 to 5 ft in length. Smithsonians National Zoo. They have thick, protective fur that keeps their bodies warm in cold waters. According to the authors, their short legs, webbed feet and long tail help them swim faster. National Wildlife Federation.Otters can remain submerged for as long as eight minutes
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