Otters & Their Waters Exploring a Florida Ecosystem

Exhibit Message:

This educational exhibit helps visitors discover watersheds and the species within them. It focuses on the North American river otter and its role in watershed ecosystems. Watersheds and water connect us all. Watersheds are lands that drain water toward a body of water such as a lake, stream, river or the sea. The water-saturated areas called wetlands play an important role in the continuous flow of water from rainfall, from glaciers, lakes and rivers into the sea. The water cycle is essential to life on Earth, and changing it can affect many living things, including otters and humans. Water draining from the land enters our coastal wetlands and oceans, where Mote scientists avidly work to benefit natural ecosystems. For instance, Mote’s aquaculture researchers develop eco-friendly methods to farm seafood and to help restore wild fish populations. Our scientists also restore coral reefs, tag and track sharks, study Florida red tide and study and rehabilitate sea turtles and marine mammals, just to name a few efforts. Helping our oceans goes hand-in-hand with helping our watersheds. Our new exhibit animals, the otters, are great ambassadors for their watershed homes.

Exhibit Animal:

North American river otter (Lontra canadensis)

Facts:

There are several different subspecies of the North American river otter. They can differ in traits like body size. Please consider the details below to be approximate. Full-body maximum length at about 2 years old: 35 inches to 54 inches or more. This includes head, body and tail. Weight: 16-23 pounds. This is specifically for the subspecies we have on exhibit, called Lontra canadensis lataxina.

[SR1] Lifespan: 10-13 years in the wild; 25 years in human care

Diet · Primarily eat fish · Opportunistic [SR2] feeders that eat whatever they can locate, including crustaceans such as crabs and crayfish, mollusks and other aquatic invertebrates, insects, birds, frogs, rodents and turtles [SR3]

Range: · Streams, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands and along marine coasts in the United States and Canada · Historically, these otters were hunted for their fur, and they are suffering habitat loss as humans modified the land. These otters became rare or locally extinct in many parts of their range, but reintroduction efforts – e.g. into the Rocky Mountain region – has helped to combat population loss.

Reproduction and Lifestyle · Occurs in late winter to early spring (December to April) · Gestation period (young is developed in the womb) lasts 60-63 days. · Litter size - 1-3 pups. As many as five have been documented, but that is considered uncommon. Sexual mature at 2-3 years old · Pups are altricial: born helpless, blind and requiring care from their mother · [SR4] Otters usually live alone or in very small social groups.

Relation to other animals: · Members of the Mustelid family, which includes ferrets, weasels and minks.

Exhibit Section: Watershed=Water Shared · Watershed-area of land that drains water toward a lake, stream, river or the sea · Otters and other animals and plants live in watersheds, including fish, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and us. · 6 Local watersheds in Sarasota County: Sarasota Bay Watershed, Roberts Bay North Watershed, Little Sarasota Bay Watershed, Dona/Roberts Bay Watershed, Lemon Bay Watershed, and Myakka River Watershed.

North American River Otters vs. Sea otters, Sea lions and Seals: How to Tell the Difference North American Sea otters Sea lions Seals river otters Webbed paws; toes Shorter/blunter front Large flippers; hind Smaller flippers; can’t quite visible. Tail paws than river otter. flippers can rotate rotate back flippers. Short long & tapered. Webbed toes harder to forward for easier tail between back flippers. see; back feet flipper- walking on land. like. Shorter tail than Short tail between river otters. back flippers. Visible outer ears. Visible outer ears. Visible outer ears. NO visible outer ears. Weigh 16 to 23 Weigh 50-100 pounds. Hundreds of pounds. Hundreds of pounds. pounds Example: 700-pound Example: (U.S. southeastern male 240-pound harbor seals subspecies, Lontra And 240-pound (Phoca vitulina). Other Canadensis female California seals can be bigger. lataxina). sea lions (Zalophus californianus).

They walk, run and Clumsier on land than Walk on land with Wriggle on their bellies on slide on land, river otters, tend to large flippers, can land — tend to look the moving more stay in ocean. Sleep in form groups of most awkward on land. efficiently there floating groups of a hundreds on shore. than sea otters. few to hundreds, They eat prey called “rafts.” retrieved from water & have land- bound dens. Solitary or in small groups. Fresh water, Seawater Seawater Seawater (with few brackish or even exceptions) coastal seawater

North American River Otters (Lontra canadensis)

Exhibit Section: Dive in. Climb out. Repeat

· North American River Otters are amphibious; they seek shelter on land, but swim to find food. · North American river otters build dens on land called holts. · They catch food in the water, then bring it on land to eat.

Adaptations (characteristics that help an animal survive)

· Webbed paws allow them to swim more fluidly. · Flexible spine and rudder like tail streamlines swimming [SR6] · High nostrils and high, wide-set eyes to avoid submersion [SR7] · Though awkward on land, otters have the ability to run 18 miles per hour. · Thick fur traps air, helping them stay warm in the water. · They have 50,000 hairs per square centimeter. · River otters have ears and nostrils that can close up to keep water out during a deep dive. · River otters can control the lens of each eye, allowing them to focus on land or in water · They have vibrissae (sensitive whiskers) that help sense prey in murky, dark water. · River otters are nocturnal (active at night) or crepuscular (active during dawn and dusk). · They have specialized scent glands and can leave a scented substance with urine and feces at a special “scent station.” This marks territory and signals when females are ready to mate.

North American River Otters at Mote Marine Laboratory

Names and sexes Huck (male), Pippi (female), Jane (female)

Relationship to each other? None of them are related. Pippi and Jane were raised together.

Where did they come from? Huck: Florida Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary, Melbourne Florida Pippi and Jane: Wildlife Rehabilitation facility, Conway, South Carolina

When did they arrive behind-the-scenes at Mote? Huck: 12/15/15 Pippi/Jane: 12/18/15 They started their time at Mote behind the scenes so that they could get used to their new environment and be trained in behaviors that will help Mote staff take good care of them.

Who are the keepers? Amanda Foltz and Britney Cochran are the main keepers. Holly West and Amber Shaw (Turtle Care), Vanessa Hensley (Manatee Care) will be cross-trained to provide additional support.

When were they born? They are thought to be late March/early April 2015 babies.

Where were they born? All were wild born. One of the females was found orphaned on the side of the road and brought to the rehabber while the other female was dropped off at the rehabber’s drop off site. They were both very young with eyes barely opening.

Huck was found in someone’s backyard at about 5 months old, seemingly with hind leg issues. He was very people-friendly, leading us to believe he was hand raised. He received a veterinary check up, and within a couple of days, his hind leg issues seemed to be gone. Nothing else was found to be wrong with him. Because he was used to people, he was not a good candidate for release into the wild.

Diet at Mote Feline Diet (meatballs), capelin, herring, silversides, mice, chicks.

Enrichment at Mote Environmental enrichment devices are toys designed to give animals healthy mental and physical stimulation. For enrichment, our otters receive lots of different toys, substrates and furniture to climb on. We use non-destructible items made of hard plastic, certain dog toys, pvc objects, a sand box, water pools, ice, etc.

Training Positive reinforcement through operant conditioning. We will be training the otters the very basics such as targeting, stationing, and husbandry behaviors (going into a crate, body presentations, getting on a scale to get weighed, eventually voluntary injection and blood draws). Currently we are feeding them 3 or more times per day on a variable schedule. When a behavior is complete, otters are rewarded.

Interesting Characteristics Jane Loves her sandbox, and she is the more dominant of the two females. She weighed 10 pounds upon arrival. Pippi is more shy and calm then Jane. She has much smaller eyes and is darker around her face than Jane. She weighed 7 pounds upon arrival. Huck is much larger than the females, at 23.5 lbs upon arrival. He is very dark in color. He loves to play hide-and-seek and chase.

Mother or father of these otters? Unknown.

Behavior and Communication · River otter pups are born helpless. Mom cares for them and provides milk, and within 21-38 days they open their eyes. · Within a few weeks, the pups may bound, chase and wrestle with other pups. This helps them learn survival skills that ultimately help them survive, find prey and avoid predators as adults. · After a month, they learn how to swim. · One way they communicate is with their scent glands (see “Adaptations” above). · They also make sounds, such as “explosive snort,” an alarm sound; “chuckle,” showing positive feelings; “un-huh, un-huh,” which might be similar to chuckle; and “whoop” or “bird-like chirp,” which females may use to call to pups.

Otters’ Place in the Food Web

· All animals are linked by a food web. Some organisms in the food web produce energy-rich food, and they are consumed by animals. Larger animals consume these animals. · Primary producers (e.g. plants and algae) make food. They are eaten by primary consumers (such as bacteria, worms, larval insects, and small crustaceans). · Primary consumers are eaten by secondary consumers (such as small fish). · Primary consumers and second consumers are eaten by predators (animals that hunt and kill other animals), which may also be called tertiary or even quaternary consumers. River otters are predators. · River otters can be eaten by larger predators, such as alligators, crocodiles, cougars, bobcats and coyotes · The food web is influenced by human interaction. · Pesticides, chemicals and mercury can bioaccumulate - build up inside the bodies of - prey animals and predators that consume them. · Toxic substances can cause “sublethal” changes that do not kill animals but affect their health and populations. This can be true for river otters, their prey and also for the ocean animals studied by Mote. To give an example from Mote’s work: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill ceased awhile ago, but it could potentially have lasting effects on marine animal health in the Gulf of Mexico. Mote scientists are studying fish from the Gulf to understand the subtle ways oil might affect them.

Exhibit Section: This land is our land; this land is otters’ land: · Humans are biggest threats to North American river otters. Historically, we overharvested them for the fur trade. · 53% of wetlands were eliminated from 1780s-1980s due to development, greatly decreasing river otters’ habitat – part of the reason for their population declines. · In the 1980s river otters were extirpated (locally extinct) in 11 states. · Many wildlife agencies have implemented plans to help otters, even reintroducing thousands of otters across 21 states. · River otters may need up to 30 square miles to establish their home range, the area an animal covers routinely to feed, shelter, mate and survive. · River otters need marshes, especially during rainy months. · Roads are often perilous for otters, as they may visit roadside ditches and cross roads while seeking wetlands.

Exhibit Section: Otters and us · River otters are indicator species. This means they indicate the health of an environment. · Locally, you may see them at Myakka River State Park, Myakka Prairie, Celery Fields, Red Bug Slough or Pinecraft Park along Phillippi Creek.

Exhibit Section: How to help otters and their waters · Report distressed and orphaned otters by contacting the Florida Wildlife Rehabilitators Association or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). · Take care of our watersheds- Pick up waste and trash, educate yourself on watershed issues, plant local plants, follow laws pertaining to fertilizer and support science, conservation and environmental education.

Sources

[SR1] http://www.otterspecialistgroup.org/Library/TaskForces/OCT/North_American_River_Otter_Hus bandry_Manual_3rd_edition.pdf [SR2]Defenders.org http://www.defenders.org/north-american-river-otter/basic-facts [SR3]Defenders.org http://www.defenders.org/north-american-river-otter/basic-facts [SR4]National Wildlife Federation https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/North-American-River-Otter.aspx [SR6]Oklahoma wildlife department http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/wildlifemgmt/species/otter.htm [SR7]Oklahoma wildlife department http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/wildlifemgmt/species/otter.htm