A Florida search-and-rescue provider is training a new non-human team member, but the animal isn’t what you might immediately imagine. Instead of yet another dog, the team hopes an otter may soon help pick up trails when they extend into murky waters.
Canines have remained law enforcement’s preferred search-and-rescue animal partners for decades, but they still have their limitations. Investigations such as boating accidents that lead authorities underwater remain a major barrier. A dog’s scent trail basically ends at the riverbank or lake shore,but that’s not necessarily the case for otters.Â
“I thought, why can’t we train an otter to do this kind of work?” Mike Hadsell at Peace River K9 Search and Rescue recently told Tampa’s local news outlet WTSP.
Hadsell posted his idea online and was eventually approached by a zoo owner in Arizona about a possible otter. Around 14 months ago, Peace River received their Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) named Splash. Then it was time for Splash’s training regimen to begin.Â
“Human [bodies] emit somewhere over 500 volatile organic compounds. The scent really never leaves,” explained Hadsell.
Otters are mammals that clearly don’t breathe underwater, but they do taste. To hone his searching abilities, Hadsell and colleagues fill three child swimming pools with water, then hide human scent samples in one of them. Splash then proceeds to live up to his name by scouring the pools–making a lot of bubbles in the process.
“You’ll see all these bubbles coming out, and he’s sucking some of those bubbles back in and he’s tasting them. The odor attaches itself to the bubble, and then he tastes it when it comes into his mouth,” said Hadsell. “And so that’s how he does it. When he finds something, he comes back and he grabs my mask.”
Splash is already garnering interest from agencies around the country. Hadsell says he’s already received search requests from FBI offices and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. But in the Sunshine State, each aquatic excursion poses its own hazards that don’t exist in the Peace River kiddie pools.
“The danger we worry about Splash here is the alligators,” said Hadsell. “For both of us it’s dangerous. I have bumped into alligators.”
The search-and-rescue team takes extra precautions whenever Splash is with them to keep him safeHe’s always tethered to a line, while both human spotters and sonar equipment continuously track his movements. Like traditional K-9 units, Splash’s reward for a job well done is a favorite snack: salmon.
Although he may be the only search otter in the industry, Hadsell thinks that Splash will be far from the last one.
“I expect to see a lot of otters out there. I think they’ll be standard issue probably in 10 years from now,” he predicted.
Since his deployment, Splash has three finds to his name.
“He is operational and still developing,” Hadsell told Popular Science. “So far, the project looks promising and [we’ll] continue to move forward.”
Â
More deals, reviews, and buying guides
Â