Otters to test river purity

Fred Allen

An Otter Society could be formed to build a series of artificial holts for otters wherever a river seems unpolluted (natural holt sites often cause flooding and have been removed). Otters would then become the guardians of the water's purity. Otters, for instance, are excessively sensitive to PCBs in the water. If one in five of the holts were supplied with pet otters and these failed to breed and spread, then this would suggest that the water is PCB polluted. Apart from preventing otters breeding successfully, PCB does not seem to hurt them (although a female otter giving birth may die from the PCB suddenly liberated by fat mobilisation). With water due to be sold off, 'otter bioassay' as outlined here may be a helpful way of monitoring the private companies' claims. In the North Sea, 'seal bioassay' appears to be occurring willy nilly. Distemper never killed seals before, and it may well prove to be a PCB-driven immune deficiency.

'Build a series of artificial holts for otters wherever a river seems unpolluted. Otters would then become the guardians of the water's purity'

Fred Allen, 13 Shelly Row, Cambridge, CB3 OBP. A team at Essex University has now pioneered a method of analysing otter droppings for PCBs, aldrin, lindane and other pollutants.

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