Chesapeake Bay river otters eat prey that carry parasites, and by targeting these sick animals, the otters may improve the health of local wildlife populations, according to Frontiers in Mammal Science.
Scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland started investigating otter waste after finding odd droppings at a waterfront dock. Motion-activated cameras showed otters were using the structure as a toilet.
The team gathered waste from toilet sites used by otters, visiting 18 locations over nearly a year, collecting roughly 28 samples at each location. The droppings reeked of fish and held fish scales plus bits of crab and crayfish shells.
Testing methods included genetic analysis and viewing samples under a microscope to determine the otters' meals. Results showed the animals ate multiple fish types (like invasive carp), American blue crabs, white river crayfish, along with some ducks and amphibians.
The genetic work also uncovered parasites that had been inside what the otters ate. Most parasites infected the fish species that otters hunt regularly. A few parasites appeared to infect the otters themselves.
Dr. Katrina Lohan, who leads the Coastal Disease Ecology Laboratory, said otters work as environmental managers. When these animals catch and eat unhealthy prey, they take out unhealthy members of prey groups.
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This selective predation might influence how prey species evolve, since diseased animals that become meals cannot reproduce.
Otters pick toilet spots along the water's edge where fallen branches and logs provide cover near the waterline. Otters visit these spots not just for bathroom breaks but for eating, playing, socializing, and resting. The team found five toilet sites located at manmade structures, including docks, boardwalks, and waterfront steps.
These findings could help monitor public health risks.
"Some of the parasites that infect river otters could potentially also infect humans, who also are mammals," Lohan said. "Thus, we could use river otters as 'disease sentinels,' and study them to learn about what public health threats occur in certain areas."
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Tracking otter infections might warn scientists about pathogens that could threaten people using the same waters.
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