Volunteer Spotlight: Ganette Araya
Ganette in the field learning camera trapping with Terence Carroll, Research Director Otter Ambassador Does Volunteering with River Otter Ecology Project sound fun to you? Volunteer training happens in May and June. Please check out our Volunteer pages and put in your...
Local Change, Global Impact
Together, we can have a substantial impact on watershed conservation, thoroughly based on science and local knowledge. Though we may be small in number, we are mighty, and we remain committed to making a difference.
Screaming Gophers and Other Field Observations
By Amanda Lipari-Maxson, 2023 Intern, Tufts University
A Toast or Two for our Ten Year Anniversary!
We love to celebrate, and what better than a toast contest?
Bay Nature Awards 2022
It is our connections, local and close, that will support our efforts into the future.
Bouncing around and bouncing back: What can river otters teach us about stream restoration and ecosystem resilience?
These resilient little critters remind us that we are all connected—the water, the salmon, the otters, the people, and everything in between. Whatever the future holds, we’re in it together. Restoring the watershed ultimately restores our communities
We Love Urban Otters!
by Karen James, Senior Field Volunteer, River Otter Ecology Project Otters are my passion. I leap at any chance to observe these charismatic beings. I am very fortunate that I live in an urban area that has quite few of them. One such place is a...
On Writing
Arisa White has generously donated her time as a judge in our Art, Photography, and Poetry Contest and Benefit this summer, celebrating and raising awareness of water. We found this inspirational blog post, originally published in the Ottawa Poetry Newsletter, December 2017, and are happy to share. Thank you, Arisa!
A Very Fine Day
By Terence Carroll, ROEP President, Informatics and Data Manager I headed out on a quiet Tomales Bay morning. A few fishermen dotted the bay, and I nodded a greeting to a fellow kayaker putting in at the launch. I stowed my field gear in my trusty research...
Conserved, unimpaired, for future generations? Point Reyes National Seashore comment period open!
The National Parks belong to us, and we all have the right and responsibility to help manage them properly. Point Reyes National Seashore is preparing to make decisions about park management that will affect the natural and human populations who live and use the park. The results of this process are being closely watched on a national level.
Otterland
A poem by Robyn Aston, River Otter Ecology Project’s Board of Directors Volunteer Lead.
A Story of Recovery
In 2012, I ventured out to Sutro Baths to see a San Francisco celebrity.
A Spectacular Day, with Otters
Some days start out well and get better. I love taking our partners out to seek otters. We don’t always see them, but we always see interesting and beautiful things…
The Otters, the Coot, and the Coyote
A slideshow essay by Trish Carney
Message from the Day After
My heart is heavy. The United States’ President Elect neither believes in nor understands the seriousness of the world climate crisis, nor has he any concern for the environment we so love.
Elusive Otters
I live along the South Fork of the Eel River in Northern California and spend a few hours at the river each morning before work photographing the Otters and other Wildlife that lives there. It is my morning meditation.
Nature, Badger, Community
Badgers are notoriously hard to spot. They’re crepuscular fading to nocturnal, shy, and they move around a lot. They can look like walking ottomans; shaggy, slow and approximately rectangular. I saw an adult once, hit by a car, who had the distinct black stripe down his face, and was a fine and beautiful animal. Until the other day, I’d never seen a live one.
November Morning
Teasing out social structure and behavior is an important part of our work. The way otters use their habitats, bring their young and interact with their prey species provide clues to what allows them to thrive in our watersheds, as well as to how they affect the animals around them. Here’s an account of a very special field day to bring you cheer on this Giving Tuesday.
Just a Walk
I’m not posting a photo today, because I want to talk about something that can be easy to forget. This morning, my husband and I got up before 7AM and went right out.
International Otter Awareness Day
Currently, there are thirteen species of otters worldwide. All of them are monitored (along with most of the plant and animal species on the planet) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Of the thirteen species, five are “Endangered,” one “Data Deficient [not enough information],” one is “Near Threatened,” two are “Vulnerable,” and four are deemed “Least Concern.”
John Muir Nonprofit Conservation Award 2014
It’s an honor and a pleasure for our team to join this inspiring group of conservationists who work every day for our planet. We owe so much to the greats who came before us…
Looking to Community: Remarks at the Environmental Leaders of Marin Awards
ROEP Executive Director Megan Isadore was honored with the Environmental Leader of Marin Gold Medal award of 2014, for the River Otter Ecology Project. These are her remarks at the lovely celebration evening put on by EarthScope Media.
I Wondered…
A year ago, when I saw my first wild river otter swimming in a small tidal inlet of Drake’s Estero in Point Reyes, I had yet to hear about the River Otter Ecology Project.
A New Marine Wilderness in the Bay Area & River Otters
“Anyone reading the literature on otters will be struck by how little is known about them in the wild.” — First line of “Otters,” a book by Daniel Allen
Otter Spotting in Martinez Lake
For the past 14 years I have lived in Martinez with direct access to Hidden Lakes Park. I have walked my dog many times there and around the lakes. The lakes have always been full of life. Fish, birds, even a family of turtles were living there, but I have not seen them in quite some time.
Marin River Otters: Back on the Map
Sometime around 1.8 million years ago, Eurasian River Otters (Lutra lutra) crossed the Bering Land Bridge onto the North American continent.
Otter and Bobcat Encounter!
The four otters were in the water on Sunday when I arrived at he West end of Rodeo Lagoon.
An Otter Legend, derived from the Cree
In the days when the earth was new and there were no men but only animals the sun was far away in the sky. It was so far away that there was no summer. It was so far away that the trees and the grasses did not grow as they should.
Tracking the River Otter’s Return
In the days when the earth was new and there were no men but only animals the sun was far away in the sky. It was so far away that there was no summer. It was so far away that the trees and the grasses did not grow as they should.
Otters in the Redwoods
Guest author Lou Sian, park ranger at Muir Woods National Monument, talks about the traditional salmon blessing by the Coast Miwoks.
Suspension
Why is it that I love watching wildlife even more from a kayak than from the ground?
Celebrating Otters and Beavers
“The thing is — a landscape that suits beavers becomes one that suits otter so the two, while not friends, are almost inseparable.”
A Wild Story from the Watershed
The 28 square miles of the Corte Madera Creek Watershed supports a large variety of aquatic and terrestrial animals, in addition to the renowned — but much reduced — salmonid populations of our creek.
Otter Peeps deserve the whole poem!
Here’s the entire poem, ALMOST A CONVERSATION, by Mary Oliver
Otters, Otters, Otters
Next time you’re near water, look for tracks, look for ripples on the surface then a big, slick, sliding graceful water athlete with webbed feet and an appealing expression…..it might be an otter!
About the Otter Blog
I’ve been a writer all my life, and have always loved writing blogs. The River Otter Ecology Project keeps me so busy I seldom have time to write a post, so you will find many contributing authors in this otter blog. If you have an idea for a blog post, an interesting otter story, a myth, a poem, a photographic or video essay, or anything else to say centering on river otters, please email me.
We’re so grateful for our guest bloggers!
— Megan Isadore