Otter spotted in the Detroit River for first time in over a century

Cheryl Santa Maria
·2 min read
Otter spotted in the Detroit River for first time in over a century

On April 25, marine ecologist Eric Ste Marie captured a video of an otter swimming in the Detroit River in southern Ontario. Experts believe it is the fist such sighting in over a century.

"I was so excited," Ste Marie, 27, told The Detroit News. "My partner and I were just giddy that we were seeing this otter, but we didn't think it was going to be as big of a deal as it ended up being."

John Hartig, a Detroit Riverfront Conservancy board member, spoke with a historian from the Monroe County Historical Museum, who confirmed the last report of an otter in the region was in the early 1900s.

The otter's return is a particularly good sign, because biologists consider it an indicator species, Hartig writes, signifying a healthy ecosystem.

Before the twentieth century, otters were prevalent in the area, but Detroit's booming motor industry pushed otters out.

In the 1970s and 1980s, large-scale conservation efforts helped clean up the lake and over the years, several species - including beavers, whitefish, and bald eagles - have slowly returned to the area.

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