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A Glimpse into the Lives of Otters… — BBC Earth shadowing | TryShadowing
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A Glimpse into the Lives of Otters | BBC Earth
A Glimpse into the Lives of Otters | BBC Earth
BBC Earth
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36:31 · Apr 12, 2026
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0:00
To stay warm and active,
0:02
they must each catch at least a kilogram of fish every day.
0:15
As they enter the water, their dense,
0:18
oily fur traps air close to their bodies.
0:24
Like an underwater blanket, it insulates them from the icy water.
0:36
Ice now covers all
0:38
but a few small sections of the river…..so many of the fish here are
0:46
now out of sight.
0:55
Luckily, otters can hold their breath for eight minutes at a time,
0:59
enabling them to hunt far beneath the frozen surface.
1:09
Throughout winter, as the wind blows and temperatures change,
1:15
the ice holes on the river shift.
1:18
So every day, the otters must check each opening one by one.
1:31
Their efforts eventually pay off.
1:40
They may be small,
1:41
but these fish are packed with valuable protein
1:44
and fat…..a nutritious meal
1:49
that other predators cannot reach
1:51
while the rivers are frozen.
2:03
But the otters' success hasn't gone by unnoticed.
2:09
Bald eagles look on jealously.
2:16
They too need fish to survive.
2:20
But they have no way to reach them under the ice.
2:35
Time for a new strategy.
2:43
Theft.
2:43
Bald eagles are armed with razor-sharp beaks
2:48
and strong talons that could easily injure an otter.
2:53
By travelling together, these two can work as a team.
3:05
As long as this river stays frozen,
3:08
the otters will have to endure this aerial harassment. - In the swamplands of
3:16
Brazil…..the giant otter pups have really gained confidence.
3:36
Now a couple of months old, all three are tentatively exploring beyond the den.
3:45
But they've still got a lot to learn.
3:53
Giant otters are highly social, spending their whole lives in a tight-knit family.
4:02
They work together protecting their territory,
4:05
watching out for predators…..and helping out with the babysitting.
4:20
The pups need to learn how to contribute to family life.
4:29
Today's crucial lesson will be a big step on the road to adulthood.
4:34
Toilet training, otter style.
4:39
An adult leads the way, with the pups eagerly looking on.
4:45
Giant otters use communal latrines,
4:49
meaning the whole family do their business in the same spot.
4:54
It's a vital way to mark their territory…..and there's a crucial technique involved.
5:04
Key to getting it right is all about rubbing the scent in.
5:09
It creates an almighty stink that will see off any other otter family.
5:20
Now, it's the three pups' turn.
5:26
One plucks up the courage to give it a go.
5:30
He thinks about going all the way to the top, but chickens out.
5:40
Not exactly the right spot.
5:49
And no hint of rubbing.
5:52
But it's a step in the right direction.
5:56
An adult takes over.
5:59
If you want a job done properly, do it yourself.
6:11
The pups need to get the hang of the toilet etiquette
6:15
if they're going to start contributing to family life.
6:21
These three are learning fast, but they've still got an important skill to master.
6:27
Soon, they'll need to hunt for their own food.
6:33
Mastering tricky fishing techniques is a key rite of passage for many water babies.
6:47
- A visiting male otter woos a female on the lake's shore.
6:59
But she seems a little distracted.
7:08
Her two pups are nearby.
7:11
They're about 10 weeks old
7:13
and the time is right to lead them from the holt.
7:23
Males are not above stealing food from cubs,
7:27
so she makes it very clear
7:28
that he is not going to be joining them.
7:51
This female grew up on the lake,
7:54
so she knows where to take the cubs for a very special trip.
8:09
Yellowstone cutthroat trout amassing in the mouth of a stream that feeds the lake.
8:15
They are preparing for their annual spawning.
8:24
But the trout must wait.
8:26
The stream is still running fast, too turbulent to lay their eggs.
8:35
It's a nervous time for them, and for good reason.
8:50
This osprey has a brood to feed and will be back.
9:11
Now the otters are here too.
9:17
She chooses her moment to lead the pups upstream…..then leaves them to watch
9:28
and gives them a lesson in hunting.
9:57
A large trout like this, full of eggs, is a trophy catch.
10:18
She chews its tail first to make sure the fish can't get away.
10:27
While the pups are still demanding milk,
10:30
the mother otter will often keep the whole fish for herself.
10:34
Her pups are happy enough with caviar.
10:51
As the flow becomes slow enough for the trout to lay eggs,
10:54
there is a brief window of opportunity to spawn,
10:57
before the river gets too shallow to swim upstream.
11:06
The female digs a trough with sinuous flicks of her body,
11:11
and the attending male fertilises the eggs as they are laid.
11:23
Millions of new lives. - Just as they've done before,
11:30
Diablo and the family have to deal with this threat.
11:38
All the adults start to harass the caiman.
11:45
As the cubs keep their distance, Sophia takes her position at the front,
11:51
sizing up the caiman.
11:54
Others move in to try to distract it.
12:11
Diablo once again moves in from behind and goes for the tail.
12:26
But the caiman refuses to back down.....and then begins to fight back.
12:58
The cubs panic and follow the adults right into the middle of the fight.
13:03
They're in extreme danger now, so the adult otters step up the assault.
13:15
The caiman tries to head for the safety of the bushes,
13:18
but it's too late.
13:20
He's outnumbered.
13:22
The otters seize the moment.
13:35
Incredibly, they overpower the caiman, some holding it down,
13:39
others biting it in the head.
13:51
After nearly an hour of brutal fighting, it's all over.
14:11
The caiman may be dead,
14:13
but Charlie needs to know if all the otters are OK.
14:20
It doesn't take long to realise two of the cubs haven't survived the fight.
14:34
Stuck in the middle of the action like this, the young,
14:37
inexperienced cubs were no match for such a powerful and aggressive predator.
14:55
The truce between otters and caiman has, for a brief moment, been broken.
15:05
What impresses Charlie the most, though,
15:07
is the incredible show of family bonds
15:09
and physical strength the otters brought together to kill the caiman
15:14
and eliminate the threat of it from their lake.
15:16
The otter family have cubs.
15:32
Seeing otter cubs in the wild like this is extremely rare.
15:41
Charlie counts six tiny cubs, a record number,
15:45
making a grand total of 15 family members.
15:56
Diablo and his mate, Sophia,
15:58
are certainly playing their part in helping to maintain the survival of giant otters
16:02
in this part of the Amazon.
16:04
But so many cubs will be quite a handful.
16:07
The family will certainly have their work cut out keeping them out of danger.
16:12
The first thing the cubs need to learn is how to swim.
16:16
So this family outing is actually a swimming lesson.
16:21
Strangely, otter cubs don't actually like water, so lessons like this one are essential.
16:33
There's one cub in particular who catches the eye,
16:37
not because he's muddier than the others,
16:38
but because he really doesn't like the water.
16:48
Despite Mum's best efforts,
16:50
all he wants to do is get back to the warmth
16:53
and security of the den.
17:11
The other cubs all seem to be enduring their swimming lesson.
17:14
Some even look like they're starting to get the hang of it.
17:19
But this little cub's just not having it.
17:22
So in the end,
17:23
there's nothing for it
17:25
but to just pick him up
17:26
and dunk him in the water.
17:41
As cubs, all of the otters here are given names to help any scientists
17:46
studying them.
17:48
It seems fitting to give this cub a name appropriate to Lake Salvador.
17:52
So Charlie calls him Dalí.
18:10
Even with the protection of a big family,
18:12
the early months of a cub's life can be the most perilous.
18:16
Learning to swim is just the first danger to overcome.
18:24
Only around a third of all these giant otter cubs will make it to
18:28
adulthood.
18:31
At this age, the cubs tire easily,
18:34
so it's not long before their swimming lesson is over
18:37
and they're taken back to the warmth
18:39
and safety of the den. - All this activity attracts Montana's trout-fishing experts.
19:08
The otter family.
19:10
Mother is taking her young pups out for a masterclass.
19:29
Otters can find fish in darkness, using sensitive whiskers.
19:35
The pups cling tight, picking up the technique.
19:41
Like Mother Bear, she's a skilled teacher
19:45
and will look after her pups until next year,
19:48
when they can make it on their own.
20:01
It's that slash of red beneath the gills that gives cutthroat trout their name.
20:16
As she dines, her pups tuck into the nutritious orange eggs,
20:21
gobbling them up like sweets.
20:37
The smell of fresh fish is in the air.
20:49
The bears quickly pick up the scent of the otters' meal.
20:57
In shallow water like this, it should be easy.
21:02
But trout are slippery customers.
21:22
Success!
21:22
Following Mother's lead, Archie jumps right in.
21:38
But just like climbing trees, it takes practice.
21:49
Mother knows this annual feast won't hang around.
22:02
At last, Archie's got the hang of it.
22:06
So has Luke.
22:11
The cubs' first trout dinner is a rare high-protein meal.
22:17
They've also learnt to gobble food down quickly.
22:28
Their feast hangs thick in the air.
22:33
The scent might attract grizzlies.
22:41
Their mother doesn't take chances and leads them back to the canyon.
22:52
Most of the trout escape,
22:55
leaving the stream seeded with eggs. - These smooth-coated otter pups have spent their
23:05
first six weeks in the safety of the holt,
23:08
but now it's time to take to the water.
23:13
And their playground?
23:14
Singapore, one of the most densely populated countries on the planet.
23:20
Thanks to conservation efforts, such as cleaning up their waterways,
23:24
Singapore now has one of the densest populations of otters on Earth, too.
23:30
The otters have made the city their own.
23:33
And, with plenty of fish to hunt, they've even become a tourist attraction.
23:41
The young cubs, still reliant on their mother's milk,
23:44
are just learning how to swim.
23:46
And after a successful hunting trip, it's time to try some fish.
23:53
Now their teeth may be small, but they're still razor-sharp.
23:58
In their natural habitat, otters will haul out on to a riverbank to feed.
24:03
But in Singapore, this marina works just fine.
24:10
But house crows have also moved into Singapore.
24:14
Native to India and a few other South Asian countries,
24:18
house crows have hitched a ride on ships all around the world,
24:22
appearing as far away as Ireland, South Africa and even the USA.
24:27
With big brains and an open mind to all things gastronomic,
24:31
these avian marauders are well equipped for urban life.
24:35
They're a loose social cooperative,
24:38
working together to communicate dangers and to find and share food.
24:44
And why catch food when you can steal it from some youngsters?
24:49
Crows seem to know instinctively that pulling tails is a good distraction tactic.
24:58
It almost seems like a game to them.
25:01
They'll even do it when there isn't food involved.
25:06
Show a crow a tail and it seems they'll just pull it.
25:22
And it helps when you have eight other beaks joining in.
25:28
That is, until Mum's had enough.
25:39
Eventually, the cubs do get tired of the hassle,
25:43
leaving what's left of the fish to the crows.
25:46
Persistence, it seems, is another key crow quality.
25:52
But the cubs don't seem to mind.
25:54
Plenty more where that came from.
25:57
In just another six weeks, they'll be catching fish for themselves.
26:01
But they probably have a lifetime ahead of getting their tails pulled.
26:05
That otter's nosing that fish and sniffing the fish, right?
26:10
And if you look, when it first comes up to it,
26:12
it puts bubbles out
26:13
and it's got whole loads of bubbles around its mouth. - Right. -
26:17
Because I'm convinced otters can smell underwater. -
26:19
So do you think the bubbles are going back into the nose
26:21
or into the mouth?
26:22
I think they're going into both. - Interesting.
26:24
It's not improbable because a lot of animals can smell underwater, right?
26:28
And it's just a chemical cue.
26:30
And as long as it's concentrated, so it's really right close to them,
26:34
it makes sense that they would still be able to smell it underwater. -
26:40
So other animals that can smell underwater,
26:42
do they just sniff in water or do they use bubbles in this way?
26:47
You know, to be honest, I don't think anyone knows.
26:52
It's thrilling to think
26:53
that otters' ability to smell underwater could in fact be an undiscovered survival skill.
27:01
I've long thought otters must have this secret ability.
27:05
And seeing this has inspired me to put my theory to the test.
27:17
I'm hoping Rudi might be able to help me once again.
27:23
So really, the only definitive way of proving
27:26
that otters can smell underwater is to do an experiment.
27:29
So what we're going to do is we're going to get some fake fish
27:31
and some real fish.
27:33
And we're going to try
27:34
and film Rudi telling the difference between the fake fish
27:38
and the real fish.
27:39
So what we've got here is a fake piece of plastic trout, look.
27:45
So we're going to put that on here.
27:49
And we present Rudi with two identical-looking pieces of fish.
27:56
And to see if he can tell the difference.
27:59
So we're going to put this experimental block here.....underwater.
28:08
This relies on Rudi investigating each piece underwater,
28:13
deciding which one is food and then eating it.
28:17
And Rod and I capturing the whole thing on camera in slow motion.
28:27
No interest in the fake one.
28:31
Absolutely none.
28:39
Wow, come on Rudi, do it.
28:43
It's so fast and it's
28:45
so subtle that it's very difficult to work out exactly what's going on.
28:50
My camera simply isn't capable of slowing it down enough to see the finer
28:56
details.
28:56
But Rod's camera captures the action 40 times slower than real life. - All right,
29:03
Rod.
29:04
Did you get it? - Possibly.
29:05
Possibly. - Yeah, really? - It's so quick and obviously we're slowing it down 40 times,
29:09
so, I think, until we actually see it...
29:13
Oh, wow.
29:14
So that's...
29:14
Oh, my God.
29:15
That is a close shot.
29:16
There's his head.
29:20
And there's an air bubble.
29:21
That's a bubble coming out of his mouth, isn't it?
29:26
Oh, he's sucked it back in! - He's done it.
29:28
He's done it. - No way!
29:29
That was it.
29:31
Fantastic.
29:31
That's amazing.
29:33
The bubble came out of his mouth
29:36
and just as he was lifting his head he sucked it right back in
29:38
again.
29:39
It wasn't his nose, but it was his mouth.
29:41
He draws it back in, hopefully tasting the fish.
29:46
It is amazing because you can actually see it happening perfectly.
29:52
Rudi actively pushes a bubble on to the surface of the fish,
29:57
picking up scent molecules, before he sucks it back in.
30:02
Obtaining enough information to determine whether it's something he wants to eat.
30:09
This footage helps me understand how otters might find food in dark, murky waters,
30:15
where they can't rely on their underwater eyesight.
30:19
They sniff it out.
30:21
After being abandoned by their mothers,
30:23
the orphans were brought to Wild Instincts Wildlife Rehab Centre.
30:28
On arrival, they were weak, defenceless and would not have survived the night.
30:36
Attempting to mirror their wild diet,
30:38
centre manager Mark is giving them chopped fish and milk formula.
30:47
But he has concerns about the weakest orphan. - He came to us with
30:52
kind of a bad leg.
30:53
He had injured the joint on his right rear leg.
30:55
So we're not quite sure whether it's going to heal enough for him to
30:58
be released or not.
30:59
And he also did a slight injury to the joint right in here on
31:02
this leg also.
31:04
And even the good leg is not necessarily a good leg.
31:07
So what we're going to do is try to find a zoo for him
31:10
if he's not able to be released back into the wild.
31:13
And if we're unable to find a zoo,
31:15
then he may have to be euthanised,
31:16
if we can't find a place for him to go.
31:21
To keep any attachment to a minimum,
31:24
it's Mark's policy not to name any of the animals in his care.
31:31
Now eight weeks old, the cubs need to tackle an essential survival skill.
31:38
Learning to swim.
31:46
Curiously, baby otters don't really like water.
31:58
So Mark needs to teach them their most important life lesson –
32:03
that water isn't something to be afraid of.
32:11
Just like their mother would in the wild,
32:13
Mark makes soothing calls to reassure them.
32:20
(IMITATES OTTER CALL) Each time they try to get out…..
32:22
Mark plops them back in.
32:27
But their swimming lessons don't last too long.
32:34
That's because of another surprising quirk of otter biology.
32:39
Their coat doesn't become waterproof until they are 12 weeks old.
32:44
Until then, being wet could lead to hypothermia.
32:49
So surrogate mum Mark does what he can to help out.
32:54
Normally in the wild,
32:55
what they would be doing is rolling around in the grass
32:57
and the dirt to kind of get some of the water off themselves.
33:00
And so we can use the towels to kind of help us out a
33:02
little bit.
33:13
Wild otter cubs face exactly the same issue.
33:17
So the adults only take them for short dips,
33:20
to stop them getting cold and waterlogged.
33:24
The aquarium's head vet, Dr Mike Murray,
33:27
has anaesthetised a female otter for a checkup,
33:30
giving me a chance to take a close look.
33:34
Look at the size of that.
33:36
That's enormous.
33:38
She actually feels really warm.
33:40
That really, really thick fur they have is designed to conserve heat,
33:44
and she really doesn't, without the cold water, have an opportunity to dump heat.
33:50
Her coat is so effective
33:52
that Dr Mike has to put bags of ice on her flippers to stop
33:55
her overheating.
34:00
This is the most beautiful, silky-soft fur you can imagine.
34:05
On the outside, it's much thicker.
34:07
When you get down deep inside, it's just silk smooth.
34:13
You can just make out the, sort of, pale white skin underneath.
34:19
It's amazing how wet it is on the outside
34:21
and then you peel it back
34:22
and it's completely dry on the inside.
34:26
That's beautiful.
34:28
It's so soft you can barely feel it.
34:30
It's weird.
34:32
And if you look at the undercoat, they've got these long guard hairs.
34:36
But down deep, you look at those microscopically
34:39
and they've got all these little scales
34:40
that stick off the shaft of the fur.
34:43
And what the otter does when it grooms,
34:45
is it just conditions the fur to get those things to lock together
34:49
so that it becomes impenetrable to water,
34:52
essentially.
34:52
And they can get air in those spaces,
34:54
very similar to a down jacket
34:56
or a down vest
34:57
that we might be wearing.
35:00
Looking at the undercoat in microscopic detail shows these scales lining the shaft of
35:05
each hair.
35:07
Grooming increases the volume of air trapped in this layer…..maximising its insulation potential.
35:21
And in the freezing waters of Alaska, survival relies on good insulation.
35:29
This mother is fluffing up her baby's coat.
35:33
By blowing into its fur, she's filling it with air to keep him warm.
35:41
The more trapped air, the warmer it is.
35:49
But for it to be effective, it needs to be kept in top condition.
35:55
Which means otters spend hours each day grooming…..using their flexible spine to reach those
36:07
hard-to-get spots.
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