Otters on Facebook
Facebook fans to report otter habitats
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
2:24 PM
ANGLIAN Water is using the power of Facebook to carry out a regionwide otter survey.
The company funds a network of almost 50 voluntary RiverCare groups, including groups in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Fakenham. Each is given support to adopt and look after a local stretch of river.
Run by the charity Keep Britain Tidy, the RiverCare scheme has created a small army of volunteers, which Anglian Water hopes can help it record where otters can be found in its region.
The ‘Otterly Fabulous Survey’ is being run through RiverCare’s new Facebook page, allowing volunteers – and anyone else who wants to take part - to post their findings online.
All the information gathered will be shared with the region’s Wildlife Trusts and used to guide future conservation efforts. Otters suffered huge declines in the 1950s and 60s due to pollution, habitat loss and poisoning owing to the widespread use of organochlorine pesticides such as the now banned DDT. Many were also killed on the roads.
Now though, they are starting to make a comeback, something Anglian Water is keen to encourage where it can.
Lisa Taylor, Environmental Performance Scientist at Anglian Water said: “We are all very excited at the thought of what this survey might show up.
“RiverCare has been running for more than 10 years now, but the Facebook page is a new development. We think it has the potential to bring all the RiverCare groups together, sharing their experiences.
“It will also be a central point where they can get information on waterside mammals, including otters, and what to look out for, as well as an easy way to share what they find.
“We are interested in their descriptions, photos or video of footprints, droppings, and feeding signs from otters, water voles and mink. We can’t wait to see what comes back.”
She added: “Anglian Water has its own Biodiversity Action Plan to help species found on our sites. Otters and water voles are among the animals we want to help and surveys like this are a great starting point; we need to know where they are and where they are absent.
“If this goes well then we plan to do similar surveys for other species. They have the potential to make an important contribution to our knowledge of the most vulnerable plants and animals.”
Andrew Walters from Keep Britain Tidy, said: “This kind of survey is a new departure for us but, knowing our volunteers, I’m sure they will be just as excited by this as we are.
“This is a natural extension of our work and also let’s us highlight the new Facebook pages, which can help us forge a real sense of community among the different RiverCare groups.”
RiverCare’s Facebook pages can be found at www.facebook.com/RiverCare. More information about RiverCare can also be found at www.rivercare.org.uk
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5 comments
There's the answer , my message didn't get through so here I go again , hope I remember most of the original ! I have been fishing for around 60 years but will confine my input to Suffolk and Norfolk rivers . No need for hides or field glasses , just sit quietly on the river bank and everything comes to he who waits . In recent years there has been an enormous increase in otter numbers . The rivers Gipping , Deben , Little Ouse , Thet , Yare and Wensum ( not to mention various still waters ) are alive with them . For example , I have watched 3 juveniles not ten yards from my rod feeding and cleaning . Mature otters pop up and simply look at you then go on about their business . Whilst there are still a few mink there is no mistaking one for the other and generally mink are far more alarmist . I take issue with the statement in para 5 of the article in the EADT of 12 March which said that " If your local stretch of river has otters then it means the water is clean enough to support all kinds of fish and insects too " I submit that most if not all the stretches of the rivers I have mentioned will not support grayling or even trout . In fact both species were once plentiful in the Wensum and Little Ouse but are now non existent. Along with the native crayfish . Our rivers are subject to legal and illegal discharge of untreated sewage , abstraction has severely reduced volume and flow rates , they now contain hormones and drugs in ever increasing quantities so much so that they are now being found in fish ( otters next ) and rivers are no longer managed or maintained as years gone by and suffer from excessive weed sedge vegetation growth and serious siltation leading to loss of depth. Why is it that all that seems to matter is that which is on or above the surface ? As a result anything below the surface does not register with people , not until fish deaths occur . Surely " RiverCare " should consider the entire system , not simply fur and feather . I have nothing against otters but they are like us viz they like a good meal but are inclined to leave much on the side of the plate as they prefer the succulent bits and a big easily targeted portion , Chasing around for a few minnows is not their style . Releasing more otters into the wild or artificially sustaining populations will result in the otter eating itself out of existence , our rivers are tiny even in european terms and they can only feed so many . Reckon that's enough for now .There is a need for objectivity as opposed to the disney world approach to nature .
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Thymalus
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I have experienced problems with my system , could you tell me whether or not you received my input of yesterday 20 March ? How can I view other contributions please ?
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Thymalus
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Further to the article in EADT of 12 March may I offer the following comments :- (a)I have been fishing for around 60 years and if you sit quietly everything comes to you , no need for hides or field glasses . (b) The past four years has seen an explosion in the otter population . Released or natural birth ? suspect both . (c) My sightings :- Rivers Gipping , Deben , Little Ouse , Thet , Yare , Wensum .Adults and young , on one occasion 3 juveniles feeding and cleaning within 10 yards of my rod . (d)In para 5 of the article it stated that the presence of otters " means the water is clean enough to support all kinds of fish " I submit that this is incorrect as , for example , grayling have disappeared from many zones of the rivers mentioned earlier and trout are in serious decline. Other species such as roach and dace are also struggling and the presence of hormone inbalance , drugs such as prozac have been detected in the coarse fish stocks around the country . Will this eventually affect the otters ? (e) it is indisputable that otters are eating their way through fish stocks and guess what , they are like us preferring a good size ( therefore mature breeding stock ) fish to chasing around for a few minnows for a meal . (f) our east anglian rivers are quite small and cannot stand this level of predation . Therefore it won't be long before the otters will diminish in numbers as food sources run dry . (g) mink are still present in our region but in fewer numbers . (h)why is it that anything and everything on or above the water surface is considered more important than life below the surface ? Our rivers are a mere shadow of their former selves in terms of volume , flow rate and management . If we really " Care " then look at and respect the whole .
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Thymalus
Monday, March 21, 2011
And you are absolutely confident that you are seeing otter kills and not mink kills John? I have seen far more mink on riverbanks than I have otters.
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Daisy Roots
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
It would probably be easier to report where Otters haven’t been seen as they are resident on virtually every river in our region. If you don’t spot them you can usually tell of their attendance by the prime fish they have left lying around with bits and pieces nibbled off them.
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John L Norton
Tuesday, March 15, 2011