FLORIDA OTTER SPOTTERS
Our work
We are a group of passionate conservation biologists, citizen scientists and otter enthusiasts working together, throughout Florida, to understand and conserve North American river otters.
We value otters as a species in the natural world and as sentinels of ecosystem health. Very little is known about otters in Florida and we aim to change that by studying them using cutting edge science as well as sighting information.
Florida Otter Spotter Programs
CITIZEN SCIENCE
Otter Spotters
Anyone can be an otter spotter!
We want to hear about your otter sightings. You can report otters from any location throughout Florida. Just fill out our easy form. We also want to know when you find one that has died. Why? To understand their mortality and collect samples. For more about that, read about our health research.
HEALTH
Research
We study otter health by examining otters that have died. We collect otter specimens from vehicle strikes as well as "natural" deaths. Samples are used to understand what they eat, how long they live, how they are related and what diseases they show. Otters share some of the same diseases that affect humans such as rabies.
ECOLOGY
Research
We study otters around the Indian River Lagoon in Florida to understand the role that they play in the ecosystem and to see what they can tell us about the health of this important estuary. We use camera trapping to minimize the need to disturb the animals and to understand their behavior in the wild.