Learning to swim, dive and hunt is exhausting! Otter pup naps on the bank. Photo: Doris Sharrock

News from The River Otter Ecology Project December 2015 Wild at Heart

River Otter Ecology Sticks

In 2012, at a National consolidated, grown, devised better ways to Endowment for the Humanities collect data, sought new ways of financing What’s Inside? our work, expanded our research area and Lecture Wendell Berry invoked attracted a superb new graduate student in From the President 2 Wallace Stegner, and out of that conservation biology to build on our genetics delightful circumstance came this: work in Fall 2016. Program Updates 3 As we look ahead to our 5th birthday in 2017, and envision our future through 2018, Volunteer Round-Up 4 “Stickers...are motivated by we count on you to continue to support us affection, by such love for a through documenting your otter sightings on Our Supporters 5 Otter Spotter, volunteering, donations, social place and its life that they media, and the cards and letters you so How Can I Help? 6 want to preserve it and kindly send us. It may seem like a small thing, but we “stickers,” depend upon the remain in it. encouragement as well as financial donations Central to our mission is supporting from folks interested in our work and otters. restoration and conservation of watersheds, After all, that’s what community is all about not only as important habitat for river otters, and it’s something we humans excel at when Donate now! but as an integral part of a web of resilience we try! THANK YOU for all the ways you that we must support in every ecosystem. work with us. This year we’ve published results, spread Megan Isadore, Founder and Executive the word of our work, celebrated, Director

River Otter Ecology Project Directors Wishing you an Otterly President: Terence Carroll Healthy and Happy Vice President: Barry Deutsch Secretary: Ceci Herrmann Exec. Director: Megan Isadore 2016 Education: Christian Naventi At large: Craig Nikitas The Year in Accomplishments

1. Field Research We trained and fielded 20 volunteers to survey for otter sign, collect scat and service our remote trail cameras. We increased our research area by 25 km, and added several new sites. Terence Carroll created an app to improve our data collection abilities (see left).

2. Getting the Word Out We were honored to be invited to present at the biennial State of the San River otters eat many kinds of fish, shellfish, Francisco Estuary Conference in amphibians, insects and shore birds. Oakland this fall, attended by 800 Photo: Ed Casperson Federal and State policymakers and agency folks, as well as the environmental, scientific and higher Terence Carroll is our Data Guru as well constructing a finely detailed picture of how education communities and interested as President of our project. river otters live and thrive in the watersheds citizens. Please Click Here for we share with them. This helps inform how upcoming presentations, and check It’s About the Data we can best live alongside them in the back often. Much of our work involves collecting and watersheds that support us all. analyzing data, in the form of photos, video, 3. OTTER SPOTTER fecal samples, otter sightings and A Nifty New App observations. Between the collection and In August, funded by a grant from the With nearly 1500 otter sightings in the analysis we categorize, verify, and store the Onshore Foundation, five field research past (nearly 4!) years, river otters are data in a consistent way that allows us to volunteers began testing a mobile app we certainly back on the Bay Area Map. retrieve and understand the information the created for collecting survey data on river Please continue to report sightings! data represents. We store and catalog more otter habitat features. This year marks the first sighting in the than 4,000 videos and We’ve been Santa Cruz mountains. Will river photographs; more than collecting this data otters return to the West coast of San 1,000 scat samples; and – the location of Mateo and Santa Cruz? If so, we’ll be many hundreds of records latrine sites, there to encourage and document their of field surveys, camera wallows, corridors, return! Click here to view our Otter placements, and camera slides and dens -- Spotter map. checks. We’ve built all along, but the databases and systems process was that allow us to maintain cumbersome. In 4. Education and use what we’ve the field, We welcomed Christian Naventi, a collected, and we volunteers carried San Rafael high school educator to constantly improve these Donate Now! notebooks, pens, our Board, to lead our expanding tools. Doris Sharrock and GPS devices. educational efforts (See next page). Taken together, the data They noted everything, took pictures with their cell contain a picture of river otter presence and 5. Publication behavior in our study area. In order to see phones, and input the data into spreadsheets We published findings from our first that picture, we study each piece of when they got home. We use this data to help information to discover what the aggregate us understand when, where and how river two years of research in Northwestern can tell us. Videos, for example, tell us otters use their habitat. The new, mobile Naturalist, the Journal of the Society generally where and when otters are present. app, works on cell phones or tablets, has its for Northwestern Vertebrate Zoology But we also focus on when pups show up at own GPS capability, and allows data input in the March, 2015 issue. The findings different places year-to-year, family right in the field. detailed were derived from our field relationships, interactions with other species, The test went so well that plan to roll it out to cameras and observational records of and behavior. the rest this spring. In time, we will collect river otter population, behavior and Scat contains the individual DNA of an otter. most of our field data this way. Whenever we select health issues. It is available for We seek information from specific parts of the can improve our data-gathering functions free download by clicking here. DNA that identify which otters have common while improving the experience for our field maternal ancestors, how many males/females volunteers, we feel we’ve won a round! there are, where they disperse as young adult Terence Carroll, President otters and population numbers. We are Program Updates where conservation efforts are geared toward endangered species. • Our population studies on river otters provide a basis for determining how their populations are affected by oil spills, and help us with mitigation efforts.

Genetic Analysis In Fall 2014, we began genetic analysis of our scat samples. We expect to have results on male/female sex ratios and initial family relationships in late 2016. We’re delighted to welcome an additional graduate student, Emily Savage, in Fall 2016 to continue the population demographics work we’ve begun at San Francisco State University’s Genomics & Transcriptomics Analysis Core.

Education This year we welcomed Christian Naventi, a high school Photo: Robin Ellison teacher at Star Academy, as a Director. In partnership with the Las Gallinas Sanitary District, Christian heads up a new educational program we hope will take root and grow, like a fine strong oak tree. Two of Christian’s high school classes will monitor a new study site at the Las Gallinas Reclamation Published! Ponds. Just like all our field volunteers, the students will collect In Spring 2015, we published findings from our first two years non-invasive camera trap data on river otters at the ponds, of research in Northwestern Naturalist, the journal of the observe and document behavior, social interactions, family Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology. Our findings groupings and reproductive success. They will collect scat for include: genetic analysis. The students will learn hands-on science • River otters, extirpated from the Bay Area for decades, are methods, teamwork and communication skills. They will back in all counties of the Bay Area except San Francisco materially contribute to our project by expanding our study and San Mateo. area to the San Francisco Bay. Expect an update on this • River otters are breeding successfully around much of the SF project early in the year! Bay and Marin and Sonoma coasts. • The first-ever census of river otters in Marin County shows Liz Williams, our super environmental educator, led curriculum about 50 river otters inhabit the stretch of coast from the development and piloting for our fabric watershed mural, Golden Gate north into Tomales Bay. which we use to teach watershed basics and relationships to • Car strikes account for the highest mortality discovered children. The children love making felt pieces and placing through our research. them on the mural. They learn that each element in a watershed affects every other element, and the importance of This matters because: being good watershed stewards. This year we will seek grants • River otters are a sentinel species. Their return and and an intern to help us expand curriculum and get the continued good health indicate that conservation and watershed lesson out into more classrooms. restoration efforts around the SF Bay are working. • Because river otters are a predator species, and may be a top predator in many areas, we need to understand their function in their ecosystem. This is especially important Donate Now!

Photo: Terence Carroll Citizen Science drives our research and education! Thank you to our terrific volunteers, directors and advisors. You are the River Otter Ecology Project.

ecosystem in my backyard. Bobcats, What brings our coyotes, raccoons, turkeys, deer and Pete Barto even more critters share the same field volunteers back Field work has allowed me to build on watershed, the same latrines and scent the tracking methods I learned through spots, and give great snapshots into all of year after year? my UC Cal Naturalist certification their lives on the trailcams! program, as well as the opportunity to enjoy these most excellent local wild Julie Litwin spaces we are so fortunate to live within. Hilary Maag I've learned so much about local species I love being outdoors and and looking Being in the field, checking one and the year-round natural rhythms of for clues as to what the otters have been particular area time and again gives one the Marin watershed. I am honored to be up to. It is a great privilege to get a new appreciation for the space, the a witness to the return of the North glimpses of their interactions and lives in way the animals - all of them, not just the American River Otter to the SF Bay Area! person or on video. It is also wonderful otters - use their environment over time to compare notes with and learn from the and seasons. You begin to see the incomparable Megan and fellow Marjorie Cox subtlest of changes, things you would volunteers. never think to look for if you were just As a field volunteer for River Otter Ecology Project, not only am I gaining passing through. Robert DeLeo valuable hands on experience, but I get Field work is a new experience for me the opportunity to be awed by the otter. Karen James and has deepened my appreciation for Many surveys are checking cameras and the resilience of all creatures in the I love field work as it is a journey into a collecting scat, but when you actually get natural world and how stewardship different world. There is a story behind to witness the elusive otter, it's magical! everything you see, smell and hear. seems to be the central theme in the When doing field work you realize how pattern of their lives and their Dave Mackenzie much life is out there, and how relationship to life around them. Otter interconnected it really is. Performing field work on River Otters not families and their fellow travelers in the only has given me much insight into this wild teach us the real meaning of fascinating creature, but into a whole preservation, harmony and balance. Special Thanks Partners Science Advisors California State Parks Advisors Dr. Sarah Allen Golden Gate National Recreation Area Sharon Barnett Dr. Frank Cipriano Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District Bob DeLeo Dr. John Kelly Marin County Open Space District Nancy Jean Dr. Thomas Serfass Marin County Parks Mary Ellen King Dr. Brian Simison The Marine Mammal Center Mia Monroe Richard Vacha Marin Municipal Water District Dave Schatzki Muir Woods National Monument Lori Wynn Point Reyes National Seashore

Our Supporters Make Our Dreams Come True

Grants Legacy Curiodyssey Conservation Fund Rich Cimino Geoffrey Nelson Carol and Kent Landsberg Foundation Debra and Ed Pentaleri Norcross Wildlife Fund Peter Percosan Onshore Foundation Star of the Watershed Rusty Scalf Rose Foundation for the Community and Andy Feifarek Annette Varady Environment Yvonne Provaznik and Dave Max Vasilatos San Francisco Conservation Fund Schatzki David Watts David Weinsoff In-Kind Supporters Ecologist Elect Robert Aston Cathy Edgett Annual Fund Donors Sharon Beals Angela Hsu and Ryan Hilles Edith Black Anthony Brewer Rich Cimino Clavey Paddlesports Otter Defender James Clayton Curiodyssey Karin and Steven Chase Joan Ellis Mary Gleim Barbara and Barry Deutsch Claudia Fitch Golden Gate Raptor Observatory Richard Ferris Maryann Foley Illumina Virginia Fifield Katherine Jones Dr. John Kelly Julie Litwin Cindy and Dick Jordan Kokatat Petra Nelson Jacob Margit Marin Nature Adventures The Schneider Foundation Fredrika May Diane Valenti Peter Meyer Point Reyes National Seashore Julie McDade Whyte and Margaret O’Brien and Chris Boyd Safari West Malcolm Whyte Carlos Porrata San Francisco Wildlife Photography Judith Rousseau Maggie Rufo Sea Trek Ocean Kayaking Bioluminescence Alan Tabor Solstice Jim Carroll Jessica Watters Tomales Bay Sailing Adventures Peggy Duly David Tomb Nicole Duplaix The Tree Spirit Project Janet and Tony Isadore-Barreca Donate Now! Worth a Dam Katherine and Bridger Mitchell

Jordan Arce Brenden Collett- Karen James Hilary Maag Robert Aston Grether Gerry Jarocki Dave Mackenzie Volunteers Peter Barto Marjorie Cox Martha Jarocki Christian Naventi Hannah Bishop Robert DeLeo Nancy Jean Emily Savage Moser Barry Deutsch Mary Ellen King Suzanne Whitney Collin Bode Andrea Dougall Jouko van der Liz Williams Terence Carroll Stefan Gracik Kruijssen Lori Wynn Holly Groves Julie Litwin Sofia Ziemienski Photographers Terence Carroll Joshua Asel Brenden Collett-Grether Jouko van der Kruijssen Lee Aurich Daniel Dietrich Carlos Porrata Ian Austin Robin Ellison Cheryl Reynolds Anthony Brewer Paul Grammens Tom Reynolds Ed Casperson Karen James Doris Sharrock

What does your donation mean to us? We aren’t part of a university, nor part of any state, federal or scat, to laboratory costs for otter tissue analysis comes from local department and we don’t receive state or federal either grants or donations. We run a tight ship, with only one funding. We are completely independent. On one hand, part-time paid position, and manage to accomplish a great that allows us to choose and deal. We depend upon your tackle the issues we care most generosity and partnership to help deeply about: conservation and us raise the money we need for the restoration of watersheds to programs you’ve read about in this ensure a thriving future for river newsletter. otters, and resilience in the face Please click here to discover why our of environmental challenges. staunch supporters continue to Our research is driven by support our programs, as well as scientific goals. Our education specific support levels that cover is driven by demonstrated need. Donate Now! specific items. We hope you’ll On the other hand, we must Photo: Carlos Porrata consider us in your year-end giving. raise every penny of our If you’re able to increase your operating and program costs on our own. Everything from donation this year, we promise to increase our effectiveness in computer data storage to the little bags we use to collect otter return, and keep you apprised of our progress!

Cool Facts About North American River Otters

Eyes are directed forward for binocular vision. Thick vibrissae (whiskers) Blood has fast clotting time and help otters find prey in many thrombocytes, which enable murky waters. clotting under water.

GI transit time for a Forelimbs are highly mobile fish meal is between because river otters lack a 2 and 4 hours. clavicle.

The only non-meat item river otters have been reported to eat in the wild is blueberries.....good choice!

Photo Paul Grammens