Have you seen otters in your area?
Our research team can’t be everywhere at once so we need your help to map and learn where river otters are.
If you've spotted river otters or signs of a river otter (slides, scat, or tracks), snap a photo and submit it to our project on iNaturalist.
You can submit observations from the app on your phone or through the iNaturalist website. No need to join the project—any river otter sightings within the Chesapeake Watershed will be automatically included. Join the project if you'd like to stay up to date on progress and get notifications when we post project updates.
Reminder: River otters are wild animals, and their scat can contain parasites. If you see an otter, stay safe by maintaining your distance and taking a photo from far away. If you see scat or track, stay safe by taking photos (no touching).
Not sure you saw an otter? Check out our field guide to see examples of scat and footprints that otters leave behind.
Where's the old form? If you've submitted an observation before, you'll notice things are different! We've migrated our sighting efforts to iNaturalist, a free platform that is widely popular and is where many people are already submitting river otter observations. By using iNaturalist you can see your observation and observations by others in real time.
Questions? Email our team at SERCOutreach@si.edu.