What's New Sighting River Otter Besides being the first full day of spring, March 21 was nothing special except that it brought the most exciting 10 seconds of environmental news in a long time. Unfortunately, only one Philadelphian witnessed the event, which took place underwater. Joe Perillo is an aquatic biologist with the Philadelphia Water Department. Among other duties, he reviews videotapes of the fish ladder at Fairmount Dam, keeping track of the different species of fish and their numbers as they make their way upriver. When Perillo reviewed the video recordings from the 21st, he saw something never seen before in the fish ladder, and it wasn't a fish. For 10 riveting seconds just after midnight, a North American river otter swam by the viewing window. It stopped underwater, looking directly at the digital video camera and the lights used for nighttime recording. "Having an otter in the Schuylkill shows that the hard work the City has done to clean up the river is paying off with improved water quality," says Perillo. Otters, he notes, are apex predators, meaning they occupy the highest niche on the food chain. Although otters will eat almost anything from insects to snake eggs, their favorite food is fish: minnows, sunfish, suckers, carp and trout. "Without clean water there aren't as many fish and if you don't have fish, you don't have otters," says Perillo. "We now have 37 species of fish and thousands of fish in the Philadelphia portion of the Schuylkill, more than since the fishery business collapsed in the 1800s." The otter's size, roughly three feet, four inches from nose to tail, suggests it might be old enough to breed. River otters reach sexual maturity at two years; pups - usually two or three to a litter, are born between February and April. "We now have a strong indication that the River otter is expanding its range along the Schuylkill and is passing through Philadelphia to its eventual home," the Water Department biologist adds. "The fish ladder allows wildlife to overcome barriers like dams to reach suitable habitat." Visitors to the Interpretive Center will be able to see the otter video as a part of an exhibit of the 10 best video clips taken at the fish ladder during the past year. Later this spring, the FWWIC will install a direct digital video link from the fish ladder to a permanent exhibit in the Center, where visitors can see the fish, and anything else, going up, or downstream as they pass by the underwater viewing window in a special underwater room. The video images come from an innovative wildlife digital video system developed by Talisman Interactive, Inc., of Philadelphia. The high-resolution video system operates 24 hours a day by wireless remote control. The otter video and photos can be viewed online at: http://www.fairmountwaterworks.com/river_otter.php Those who want to learn more about the river otter can visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission's website: http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=458&q=150517 ### Top of Page