North American River Otter

Lontra canadensis

Description:

There were four otters swimming in the river. They were diving down and would come up eating blue crabs. The four of them seemed to come up successful with a new crab almost every dive. They ate the crabs whole; you could hear them crunching from far away. These two swam towards a palm tree that was in the water and took their time enjoying their meals. They eventually got out and ran around in the woods alongside the river before hopping back in the water for more

Habitat:

Chassahowitzka River, a spring-fed river near the gulf. These were not too far from where the Gulf water mingles with the fresh water so I think it was brackish where I photographed these otters (explaining the blue crabs' presence).

Species ID Suggestions

10 Comments

Leuba Ridgway 6 years ago

Great photos - Lovely and fresh and the otters certainly look like they are having a good time. Thanks machi.

Machi 6 years ago

Thanks for the nomination!

DanielePralong 6 years ago

Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated Machi!