An interesting sight that you often won't see in Ireland, the elusive Eurasian otter has been on the IUCN Red List for some time, classified as Near Threatened and a species in decline, Lutra lutra is one of the finest animals to see in nature.
Here as I was travelling along Ireland's River Suir in County Tipperary, I saw this busy otter swimming, diving and fishing on the fast flowing river.
It was an impressive hour, the otter would work its way upstream, then dive under water to re-emerge usually with a fish.
Here it is seen with what looks like a decent sized trout. This is a big creature, male otters can reach 1.3m nose to tail and they look impressive when you see them cutting through the water's surface.
This is undoubtedly one of the finest animals to see, along with Ireland's other elusive mammal the pine marten.
I did think, when watching the otter and again when reviewing video, that otters might have been thought of as some kind of monster in the past especially if seen in low light.
And sure enough I found a website positing this same idea when searching for River Suir otters. In an article, Séamus Sweeney writes: "Since then I have felt that most sightings of “lake monsters” must surely be due to otters, with their serpentine, elegant motions in the water..."
Enjoy the short video also, a difficult creature to film - the otter especially when it surfaces as it can come out of the water literally anywhere.
