To throw in my 2-pennies-worth. Yes, Lutra lutra is definitely quite happy in the sea. Here in Donegal on the northwest coast of Ireland I see them occasionally when I am on the sea in my canoe, and they are known colloquially/locally as 'sea otters' but are the same as the ones I also occasionally see on the lakes in Donegal. One very brave otter spent about 5 minutes watching me from 8-10 foot away in the water a couple of years ago, before he finally got fed up and dived.

Fiona

Greg Campbell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Dear List: Being an old British Columbian living in Britain, I could not believe there were no sea otters in North Atlantic coasts and could remember British television natural history programs watching them.

According to LH Matthews (1952) British Mammals (p. 247), the European otter Lutra lutra is marine and freshwater aquatic, eating gadids, flatfish and crustaceans large and small along the coast. It therefore occupies the same niche in the Atlantic as Enhydra lutris in the Pacific.

There is a distinct sub-species in Ireland, consistently more black-coated. D Cabot (1999) New Naturalist 84 on Ireland suggests (p. 65) that the subspecies is distinct because it probably reached Ireland since the last interglacial, and survived the subsequent glaciation in refugia. This is based on

Lynch JM & Hayden TJ, 1993: multivariate morphometrics and biogeography of Irish mustelids, in Costello MJ and Kelly KS, (no ref given), 25-34.

If so, the niche for Pacific sea otters has been filled by L. lutra in the north Atlantic for 35,000 years.

Sponsored Link

Mortgage rates near 39yr lows. $310,000 Mortgage for $999/mo - Calculate new house payment