River Otters are Making a Comeback – and in Surprising Places Around the Chesapeake Bay

Image via The Baltimore Sun

Four decades ago, populations of the river otter, a playful, whiskered member of the weasel family, were so depleted that most states in the Chesapeake Bay region considered them endangered.

Today, the species known for its fondness of clean water is turning up throughout the Bay watershed, including seemingly unlikely places.

They inhabit a floating wetland constructed in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

They’re seen in and around the District of Columbia, including Rock Creek and the Anacostia River.

Biologists once thought such urban areas were mostly off-limits to the semi-aquatic mammals, which are often associated with more pristine conditions. Their recovery in Baltimore Harbor and the Elizabeth and Anacostia rivers is especially notable because those areas were once considered the most “toxic hot spots” in the Bay region.