Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Otter In Latvia)

n the first half of this century, the otter Lutra lutra was regarded as 'nowhere numerous in Latvia but more common in the eastern part of the country than in the western'. Otters were rare in the whole East Baltic in the late 1970s. Field surveys carried out between 1986 and 1991 estimated the minimal population to be 4,000 otters. The aim of this study was to find out whether otters have increased in Latvia since the last survey 10 years ago, to find out what otters eat in late summer in a zone with low fish availability, whether otters occur along the Baltic coast, and whether they feed in the marine environment. A stable or possibly growing otter population was found. Along the coast, otter sign was only found in in the estuaries of small creeks, and little marine food was eaten. Such otters as were indicated were along rocky shores where kelp beds shelter fish, rather than the predominating sandy shores. Unlike the rest of Europe, fish were not the most important prey - amphibians were consumed in equal amounts, and there was a high proportion of insects and other non-fish food eaten. Only in eastern Poland are similar diet proportions found.