"For two years, twice a month, Eby and Scoles staked out the otters overnight. No one had ever monitored the animals like this. The pair discovered that many of the otters scientists thought were visiting the estuary were actually residents. And the otters did something called "hauling out"-when they scoot out of the water and onto land as a way to rest and warm up."
""And we found that otters here in Elkhorn Slough were healthier by far than all the otters along the coast," Eby said, because they don't have to worry about predators, and food is abundant. "So that really was a breakthrough.""
"All the monitoring by Eby and Scoles changed scientists' understanding of otters. For example, they realized that the estuary-which is quiet and undeveloped, unlike a lot of California's coastline-gave the otters more opportunities to haul out. This discovery led to other research showing that not only do otters thrive in estuaries, but they're part of an important food chain that helps the rest of the ecosystem thrive, too."
For two years, volunteers Ron Eby and Scoles monitored otters twice a month overnight. They found that many otters previously thought to be temporary visitors were actually residents. Their observations also documented “hauling out,” when otters leave the water and move onto land to rest and warm up. The monitoring indicated that otters in Elkhorn Slough were healthier than otters along the rest of the coast, with abundant food and fewer predator concerns. The findings changed scientific understanding of otter behavior and habitat use, showing that quiet, undeveloped estuaries provide more opportunities to haul out and support broader ecosystem health through the food chain.
Read at Kqed
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