The SeaDoc Society is a program of the Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Tax ID# 94-6036494.

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River Otter Diet and Predation Project

river otter feeding

In 2012, SeaDoc is funding a River Otter diet and predation study by Monique Lance of the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. 

The study aims to describe the diet of river otters and investigate the potential effect they have on rockfish and salmon populations in the San Juan Islands.

Rockfish and salmon are currently listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Because of the dramatic decline in these species over the past several decades, Marine Protected Areas have been created to assist in their recovery. 

However, little attention has been paid to how predators respond to increased prey densities. Therefore it's important to investigate the diet of potential predators. 

Otter scat samples were collected in the spring, summer and fall of 2008 on Fidalgo, San Juan and Orcas Islands. The scat samples have been cleaned and invertebrates in them have been identified. The project now allows for the analysis of fish remains in the scat, as well as examinations of spatial variation among the project sites and temporal variations through 2008. Data will also be compared to diet data from Alaska and British Columbia. The project will also compare diet among various predators, including harbor seals and Steller sea lions.  

Photo by Michael Ransburg: Creative Commons license.

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Healthy ecosystems support economic prosperity. The Salish Sea provides abundant natural capital that contributes substantially to the financial prosperity of the region. Unhealthy ecosystems cost money because we lose the opportunity to benefit from them. The Salish Sea's deteriorating health threatens our economic well being and quality of life. SeaDoc uses science to find solutions to the problems facing the fish, wildlife and people of the Salish Sea.

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