otters in Cork City

discostu1

Hi lads I was walking down to Victoria Cross yesterday and just before I came to Victoria Cycles I glanced over the parapet of the litte bridge there. What did I see but a big otter swimming in the direction of the County Hall. He was only about 6 or 7 feet below me at one stage before he disappeared into the under growth. I noticed on youtube there is a clip by a Shane White of Otters in the Lee fields and apparently Shane wrote a thesis on urban otters in Cork post the main drainage scheme.
Has anyone ever seen them in the city, if someone had an email for Shane White I wouldnt mind dropping him a line I would imagine he might be interested

Papa_Lazarou

discostu1 wrote: »

Hi lads I was walking down to Victoria Cross yesterday and just before I came to Victoria Cycles I glanced over the parapet of the litte bridge there. What did I see but a big otter swimming in the direction of the County Hall. He was only about 6 or 7 feet below me at one stage before he disappeared into the under growth. I noticed on youtube there is a clip by a Shane White of Otters in the Lee fields and apparently Shane wrote a thesis on urban otters in Cork post the main drainage scheme.
Has anyone ever seen them in the city, if someone had an email for Shane White I wouldnt mind dropping him a line I would imagine he might be interested

I'd often see one or two down by the bridge at the lower entrance to UCC. Also just in front of the Jurys(now Lee Valley hotel) is a good spot for seeing them every now and then.

Sephiroth_dude

I've never seen an otter but just at river lee hotel or whatever its called,I saw a fox cross the road over to the hotel and cross the bridge and it went in the apartment complex.

grenache

I've seen an otter twice by the pedestrian bridge that takes you from Sullivans Quay to Grand Parade. They're a regular sight in the Lee.

curly from cork

Proof our main drainage is working well

Balmed Out

grenache wrote: »

I've seen an otter twice by the pedestrian bridge that takes you from Sullivans Quay to Grand Parade. They're a regular sight in the Lee.

seen them there good few times but not for years, not in town so much myself these days i suppose

discostu1

This is a video from Shane White showing otters down by the Lee fields, I presume this must mean there is a healthy ecosystem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K4Un6s769Q

daveyjoe

grenache wrote: »

I've seen an otter twice by the pedestrian bridge that takes you from Sullivans Quay to Grand Parade. They're a regular sight in the Lee.

Yeah saw an otter by the vehicle bridge just beside that (onto South Mall) at about 3 in the morning on Thursday night. There was a lad with his camera phone out saying "Jaysus biy, there's a Dolphin in the river Lee, d'ya'see'it there". Didn't want to ruin his fun so I must nodded.

BarneyMagee

I saw one recently, directly opposite the Beamish brewery at the end of Barrack Street.

discostu1

Jeez lads this is amazing, there was I thinking what I saw was as rare as a Marian appariton, turns out that there are otters popping their little heads up all over the place

I spend a fair bit of time in West Cork and to be honest in 40 years I have seen 3. They are protected as far as I know I wonder in years to come will they be like the Urban foxes and as common. I have seen good few foxes mooching around

Lemag

I saw one about 10 years ago as I crossed the pedestrian bridge by the College of Commerce.

onlyrocknroll

The first time I saw one I was walking over Patrick's Bridge. I was amazed and I said it to a friend of mine who knows about animals and what not, he said that it's quite common.

To bear that out, I've seen one twice since.

Balmed Out

discostu1 wrote: »

Jeez lads this is amazing, there was I thinking what I saw was as rare as a Marian appariton, turns out that there are otters popping their little heads up all over the place

I spend a fair bit of time in West Cork and to be honest in 40 years I have seen 3. They are protected as far as I know I wonder in years to come will they be like the Urban foxes and as common. I have seen good few foxes mooching around

Girlfriend is from near the galley head and ive seen them around there lots of times. Whenever its very warm yould nearly always see basking sharks there too. 5 one day there at the end of april. Ive also seen whales but not so close, notice them by the spray.

discostu1

Yep I have seen basking sharks up close from a boat, amazing beasts, and lots of seals and dolphins in that general area,I did see an otter once over towards Dunworley but I kind of expect to see things down west not in the heart of the city

Cú Giobach

Quite a bit of wildlife to be seen in the city centre if you think about it (and not just on a saturday night ), over the years I have seen Otters, Mink, Dolphins, Killer Whales, Foxes, Seals and while not exactly wildlife but having a moments freedom for itself, I passed a very large Pig quite nonchalantly trotting down Evergreen Street once.

run_Forrest_run

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I've never seen an otter but just at river lee hotel or whatever its called,I saw a fox cross the road over to the hotel and cross the bridge and it went in the apartment complex.

yeah, she's a stunner alright, seen her around

deRanged

I've seen them a couple of times, and I was quite jealous that other people seem to see them all the time.
Until I was walking in to work this morning


otter in river lee by Brian Clayton, on Flickr


only had the cameraphone, but down by the bottom left of the left-hand pillar.

discostu1

Thats brilliant deRanged he looks like he is hidding behind the pier ready to mug the swan. we live in a great city where all this is around us

shanewhite

Hi lads

Jez, haha can't believe I didn't stumble on this until now? I did my final years thesis on otters in Cork City 2009 and if I'd known people were reporting sightings on this, it would have been really beneficial for me to follow up back then...ah sure sin-é !

I'd be happy to answer any questions regarding otters in our own lovely lee. At the time of my study there seemed to be a healthy population in the city, at least one breeding pair with one young of unknown sex. I recorded presence from Glanmire to the lee fields and even in blackpool, also did a dietary study of their scat, commonly called spraint within the otter world. Since that study I've been working around Europe and the United States on various wildlife projects primarily with large carnivores such as wolves, bears and mountain lions but I'll be home to Eire and assisting an otter jaunt around Cork city mid June. I have yet to learn of the final details but when I do, ill relay the info to you guys if anyone is interested in coming along and making a day outta it?

All the best...oh and deranged, thats some photo! I walked by those pillars every day on the way to college hoping to glimpse an otter for over a year!! Nicely played sir

discostu1

Hi Shane thank you so much for replying a couple of quick very amature questions

• Do the Lee Mink ever venture as far as the open see, I have seen one in West Cork that moved from a stream into the ocean but he moved back to fresh water fairly quickly
• What type of fish are they eating there seems to be loads of Mullet in the Lee, but would they also take Salmon/trout I have visions of some angling group throwing rocks or shouting otters to "preserve our fish stocks"
• Besides fish would they eat any thing like ducklings or birds eggs
• Finally I know we have a lot of wild mink in Ireland, any evidence of them in the Lee and would they cause any issue for the otter

deRanged

shanewhite wrote: »

All the best...oh and deranged, thats some photo! I walked by those pillars every day on the way to college hoping to glimpse an otter for over a year!! Nicely played sir

thanks. it's not the first time I've photographed them, and I see them occasionally, it's just really hard to catch them with the camera.

daveyjoe

Love Otters. I think some of ye might get a kick out of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9APqLA2YKs

shanewhite

discostu1 wrote: »

Hi Shane thank you so much for replying a couple of quick very amature questions

• Do the Lee Mink ever venture as far as the open see, I have seen one in West Cork that moved from a stream into the ocean but he moved back to fresh water fairly quickly
• What type of fish are they eating there seems to be loads of Mullet in the Lee, but would they also take Salmon/trout I have visions of some angling group throwing rocks or shouting otters to "preserve our fish stocks"
• Besides fish would they eat any thing like ducklings or birds eggs
• Finally I know we have a lot of wild mink in Ireland, any evidence of them in the Lee and would they cause any issue for the otter

Hi discostu1
Happy to answer your questions
First off, yes Mink do visit our coastlines, they are an incredible adaptive carnivore evident in their successful dispersal and continued survival in the Irish countryside. However my knowledge of mink biology is limited but the behaviour you observed is quite similar to our otters in that they do occur along our coastlines and can be seen foraging in the low tide or even swimming across islands. However they (otters) must return to a source of freshwater to wash away the salt in their coat, thereby allowing it to continually function as a good insulator for the animal. I can only presume a minks coat is similar as they are by habit, freshwater opportunists and need their coats to provide insulation while they forage.

Mullet did pop up in my dietary analysis, although it wasn't significant. The main species that popped up in all sites were freshwater eels, flounder and small salmonids. Slow moving fish and small trout fry are easily caught by otters compared to faster moving bigger fish, although this does occur. Small birds can be eaten too although to differentiate between scavenged dead birds and actual predation can be hard to tell, unless witnessed. Brown rats also pop in the menu too so if anything our native otters are playing their role in eradicating invasive species

Mink do occur along the River Lee although regarding competition between the two, studies have shown that mink shift their diets as otter density increases, suggesting that mink habitat use may be affected by competition with the otter rather then the other way around. Generally, the otters appear is be a predator strongly specialised in food resources taken from aquatic habitats:
fish, crayfish, and amphibians. In contrast, the American mink appears to be a typical generalist predator, capable of utilising, as their main or secondary prey, as many as five prey groups. Hope the info helps.

babo9

shanewhite wrote: »

Hi lads
Since that study I've been working around Europe and the United States on various wildlife projects primarily with large carnivores such as wolves, bears and mountain lions but I'll be home to Eire and assisting an otter jaunt around Cork city mid June.

Class, that's some job!

shanewhite

Hi everyone!

Currently along with the Cork Branch of the Irish Wildlife Trust, I am assisting a urbane otter survey in Cork City and surrounding areas seasonally for otter sign. We are hoping to build up an idea of the population size, changes in diet over the seasons and determine territoriality of different individuals.

Feel free to visit our facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cork-Otter-Survey/170893806317557

Any sightings and information would be much appreciated!!

Cheers

Shane

callum nock

Saw one today right next to the clarion hotel . young individual had no problem showing oof caught wath looked like an eel then left a lovely skat on the cork sea safari jetty ....irony of sorts