Smooth Coated Otters - The Adventure And The Sighting

By Tharangini

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Thanks for joining me here from Part I.



We were barely a few meters away from the shore when a crocodile gently broke the shimmering water and announced its presence. Its eyes and snout glimmered through the liquid gold texture surrounding it.  Bracing myself, I just managed to get a shot when I felt my feet get wet.

A Crocodile in the waters of Tungabhadta

The Adventure

The afternoon adventure began as water casually started pouring in from one of the holes in the coracle. The water rose to my ankles and my heart rose to my mouth. Our boat guy was too comfortably nonchalant, much to our discomfort. He casually pulled out a few hyacinths from the water to plug the holes and told us "see another crocodile over there."  He was even a bit befuddled as to why I was not clicking any pictures from a sinking ride.

Leaking coracle and a lurking crocodile are not exactly a viable combination in my books at least. Ankit was quickly running out of fingers and toes trying to plug the other water spouting holes around him, while our high spirited boat guy continued to rip out hyacinths to plug the leaks and encourage us to look at the crocodiles. A very serious discussion of whether to save me or my camera if the coracle went down also ensued in the process. 

 At about six inches of water inside, I almost felt the languid crocodiles smiling at our predicament. A couple, sitting on a small island rock, with a coracle full of healthy catch for the day, were watching our very entertaining situation with much amusement. 

After persistent convincing, we exchanged our ride for theirs. The entire shift-over took on a small island  rock where we all stood huddled as they casually shifted their catch for the day to the leaking ride, so we could take their place. After resolving the fishy business and smelling like one, we continued our quest for the otters. And I had thought the morning was memorable!!!

 

 The sighting

 By now the mid-afternoon had turned into early evening and we kept our eyes peeled for any sign of the otters. 

The scout checks us out

After over an hour of searching a bright-eyed curious head suddenly popped out from the water to check us out.  Ankit pointed out that it is a scout. These scouts act as lookouts and give warning yelps or a safe zone signal as required. A few more heads followed much to our delight. An entire family of Smooth Coated Otters had finally decided to bless us with their presence. 

The family makes their appearance

Primarily found in the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia, these otters are seen around sources of fresh water. The 34 km stretch of Tungabhadra from Mudlapura village to Kampli in Ballari district has been declared as an Otter Reserve Sanctuary since 2016. This has been a superlatively essential move to give the much needed protection to this species.

Their Importance

 As Ankit educated me about them, he said the importance of otters to the riverine ecosystem is equivalent to the importance of tigers in the forest, to delicately balance the numbers of fish, crustaceans and other preys. Being on top of the food chain, it was their responsibility to safeguard this delicate balance. 

The Parents study us as we study them

Despite the protection, life does not come up smelling like fishes for these otters, as they continue to hover around in the IUCN red list as endangered species. Habitat loss, large scale pollution, wetlands rapidly being converted to settlements or for agricultural use, large scale hydroelectric projects that are coming up, are all their main enemies. 

The persistent poaching of otters for their meat and skin is omnipresent. Also adding to their woes are issues like 'Water Bombing' or 'Dynamite fishing' or 'Blast fishing' that are being carried out by the more 'enterprising youths'. This process sends shockwaves through the water, killing and affecting all kinds of aquatic life including the otters. The mass fishing also effectively reduces the food base for this species. 

Fishing for an afternoon meal

These enthusiastic and playful creatures also attract the fishermen's ire when they damage the nets set out for fishing, in the competition for fish food. The fishermen who do not take kindly to their nemesis, indulge in unethical activities that are unfavorable to the otters.

Despite the odds, the otters are learning to adapt and live alongside their homosapien neighbors. It is upto the two-legged neighbors now to refrain from activities that are detrimental to the survival of these amazing creatures.

As we headed back to the shore, grateful to have not been dunked into the Tungabhadra, we saw Pompayya sir waiting on the shore for us. He looked really excited as his trademark grin spread right across his face. He said, "Hope you got to see the otters, they were all playing right here for over half an hour".

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