t's true. Wild otters are living in Windermere in the Lake District.
I spotted this lil chap (or chappess) this morning while out walking on the banks of Windermere.
He seemed to be alone and was seen heading from Troutbeck towards Bowness.
Upon further discussion with other locals, it seems there's been a few sightings of otters in Windermere recently and this is one of two sightings I've heard about in the last few weeks, with a second sighting seeing a pair of otters playing together on the shore.
Here's the video:
Windermere is currently the subject of a lot of media interest for all the wrong reasons. Save Windermere have been campaigning for the cessation of United Utilities illegally dumping thousands of litres of raw/untreated sewage into Windermere over a 3 year period. See their latest article here where they talk about this.
Despite United Utilities continuing to do this, the Environment Agency has failed to regulate the private company and has yet to issue fines or police the international firm for polluting the lake.
Windermere has undergone countless studies to highlight the issues which have been witnessed through the increase in Blue-Green Algae blooms which are a sign of pollutants in the lake. These algae blooms are poisonous to aquatic life (including Otters), dogs and people.
The presence of today's Otter is a sign that the quality of water is sufficient to sustain their habitats and so hopefully, this is a positive indicator the Save Windermere campaign is having an effect on the lake.
