River Otters Stage Long Island Comeback, With A Little Human Help

LONG ISLAND, NY—River otters were once common in Long Island freshwater ponds, creeks and rivers. But habitat loss, fur trapping and pollution meant that by the turn of the 20th century a river otter on Long Island was a rare sight. That may be beginning to change.

Biologists from Seatuck Environmental Association, headquartered in Islip, report that they have spotted river otters in two new South Shore homes: the Carmans River in Brookhaven and Eastport's Little Seatuck Creek. Until 2020, otters were only known to inhabit North Shore and Peconic Estuary waters. Two were spotted on the Connetquot River in Oakdale in 2020, signaling the species is expanding, a sign of a healthy ecosystem.

River otters need fresh water and abundant fish to thrive, the experts at Seatuck explain. They also need a way to cross the road.

After an otter died trying to navigate around a dam in Eastport by crossing a road, Seatuck scientists and Brookhaven Town employees constructed a "river stairway," a wooden overpass on the dams, so the otters can avoid roadways.

Mike Bottini is a wildlife biologist at Seatuck.

“Long Island’s highly fragmented and developed landscape poses a challenge for otter recolonization in the form of roadkills where otters are forced out of the water and onto roads in order to travel around dams,” he said in a news release from the nonprofit.

Seatuck’s Long Island River Otter Project team will be partnering with Long Island Sound Study, New York Sea Grant, South Shore Estuary Reserve, and Peconic Estuary Partnership to train volunteers to monitor river otter populations.

Muskrats are a common sight on Long Island rivers and creeks but are smaller than river otters.

Have you seen a river otter on Long Island? Tell us in the comments.