River otter (Lontra canadensis) populations in North America have been the focus of significant restoration efforts. Wildlife management agencies, concerned about unintentional take river otters incidental to beaver (Castor trapping, may recommend techniques avoid capturing otters. avoidance that are ineffective or diminish trap performance for beavers undesirable. We conducted a field evaluati...

PCB and organochlorine pesticide residues were determined in otter (Lutra lutra) spraints (faeces) from nine catchment regions in SW England over the period 1989-1991. Results of analyses of tissues from 22 otters are also presented. Dieldrin occurred in the majority of spraint samples and p,p-DDE and total PCBs in all. Lindane occurred mainly in samples collected in spring. Lindane was not fou...

Aquatic and semiaquatic mammals have the capacity of breath hold (apnea) diving. Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) have the ability to perform deep and long duration dives; during a routine dive, adults can hold their breath for 25 min. Neotropical river otters (Lontra longicaudis annectens) can hold their breath for about 30 s. Such periods of apnea may result in reduced oxygen...

The goals of this study were: 1. To establish baseline information on the distribution, relative abundance, and minimum number alive of river otters in Kenai Fjords National Park (KFNP) using latrine site surveys and DNA fingerprinting of fecal samples. 2. To establish baseline information on the distribution, relative abundance, and minimum number alive of river otters in Prince William Sound ...

Quantifying population status is a key objective in many ecological studies, but is often difficult to achieve for cryptic or elusive species. Here, non-invasive genetic capture-mark-recapture (CMR) methods have become a very important tool to estimate population parameters, such as population size and sex ratio. The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is such an elusive species of management concern ...

For prawn trawling systems, drag reduction is a high priority as the trawling process is energy intensive. Large benefits have occurred through the use of multiple-net rigs and thin twine in the netting. An additional positive effect of these successful twine-area reduction strategies is the reduced amount of otter board area required to spread the trawl systems, which leads to further drag red...

Sea otters are well known as a keystone species because of their ability to transform sea urchin-dominated communities into kelp-dominated communities by preying on sea urchins and thus reducing the intensity of herbivory. After being locally extinct for more than a century, sea otters re-colonized the Sernichi Islands in the Aleutian Archipelago, Alaska in the early 1990s. Here, otter populati...

Dracunculus insignis is a nematode parasite that infects the subcutaneous tissues of mammals such as raccoon (Procyon lotor), mink (Neovison vison) and fisher (Martes pennanti). D. lutrae, a morphologically similar species, has only been recovered from the otter (Lontra canadensis). Species identification of these two North American guinea worms has only been achieved by morphology of males and...

River damming promotes profound changes in aquatic biodiversity, including the facilitation of biological invasions, with subsequent impacts on native communities. The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is a generalist predator that often incorporates new prey types when they become available. We studied short- and long-term effects river trophic ecology across riverine landscape gradient, from flood...