Odd family enjoying winter swimming in a marina.

A family of otters enjoys winter swimming and fishing in a marina.

Many of us have seen otters in the wild. The playful mustelid is now thriving with a population of over 1,000 individuals. The species was once critically endangered around 30 years ago.

However, seeing three of them together at once is still a rare sight. At least, that’s what Robert Thomsen from Skive believes, after capturing the moment on camera in Skive Marina last Saturday.

“I’ve occasionally spotted an otter while out photographing in nature, but three…” he says.

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**A family outing**

Morten Elmeros, an otter expert at the Institute for Ecoscience, explains that it’s likely a mother with two adult offspring taking a trip into the water.

“Otters move in family groups. Normally, they fight too much to appear together. But this becomes less common in winter, when food is scarce. Then, they’re less aggressive toward one another,” says Morten Elmeros.

The otter has gradually spread from Jutland, where nearly all suitable habitats are fully occupied, to Funen and Lolland-Falster. It also now inhabits North Zealand and, to some extent, West Zealand, according to the expert.

It’s certainly not unusual for otters to use saltwater when traveling between habitats, even though they’re typically associated with rivers and lakes.

A female otter with cubs requires both a 10-kilometer river stretch and a lake to successfully raise her young.

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