Now wildlife experts at the Environment Agency have confirmed that there are at least two otters in Kent, which have built their holts on the River Medway and the River Eden.
In 1895 the otter trawl was introduced in which, instead of a beam, the net was kept open by two boards that acted as hydroplanes.
There are several documented cases in which male sea otters have forcibly copulated with juvenile Harbor Seals, sometimes resulting in death.
This reduction was even more pronounced in 2004 and 2005, years in which PDV was confirmed to have infected sea otters (Technical Appendix).
A recent thunderstorm has left plenty of muddy patches in which every animal has left its mark, including what looks like an otter.
In these cultures, many of which have strongly animist traditions full of legends and stories in which many aspects of the natural world are associated with spirits, the sea otter was considered particularly kin to humans.
Anne Sofie von Otter was stuck in Stockholm and could not arrive in time for rehearsals of Berg's "Lulu," in which she is to sing Countess Geschwitz.
If it was an animal, like the otters in the Tidal Basin, which mauled the cherry trees, no one killed them or took them to jail.
I wish there was a verb to otter, ottering around in pure play, to honour Otter ludens, which plays in my mind long after I've seen one.
It is also extremely fond of otters, which it consumes in large quantities.
