FEMALE ANNOUNCER: This program is made by MPT to enrich the diverse communities throughout our state and is made possible by the generous support of our members.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: Coming up... TAYLOR LONG: I can definitely smell that the otter was here.

NARRATOR: Exploring otter space.

(crank) NARRATOR: Finding healing in wind and water... And...a future for mussels... Next.

Outdoors Maryland is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

(intro music) ♪ ♪ (bird calls) ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Curious noses, webbed feet, and a rudder for a tail.

Otters capture hearts by looking cuddly.

So, it's no surprise that at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, home to more than 500 Chesapeake species, from blue crabs to minnows, nine-year-old river otters Chessie Grace and Calvert are easily the most popular residents.

MATT NEF: They're very inquisitive animals and so they love following people around.

The kids get a huge kick out of it but I think the otters really do as well.

NARRATOR: But beneath their playful exterior, these are highly intelligent apex predators with complex behaviors and needs.

Right now, it's snack time: shrimp and veggie popsicles... (plop) NARRATOR: ...delivered by Curator Matt Nef.

MATT: May not sound like a treat to us, but carrots, and mushrooms, and cucumbers, they love to eat.

NARRATOR: Consuming 15 to 20 percent of their body weight daily, otters love to eat, period.

In captivity, Aquarist Linda Hanna provides three square meals.

LINDA HANNA: Warm it up a little bit.

Put some vitamins in.

They'll get all crazy thinking they're ready for it.

NARRATOR: ...working to replicate, not just the quantity, but also the diversity of a wild river otter's diet.

LINDA: Slow down.

You're alright.

NARRATOR: ...which includes more or less whatever they can hunt: fish, worms, crustaceans - even the occasional bird or frog.

The specifics vary a lot based on habitat, and until recently, not much was known about otters in their habitat right outside: the Chesapeake Bay... But luckily, these mysterious mammals leave behind clues.

Matt has found a few himself right here on the museum's campus.

MATT: There might be otters around just by scat that is left on the boardwalk sometimes, or sometimes we see some eaten food, like crabs and things like that, that look like it could have been the work of an otter.

♪ ♪ KATRINA LOHAN: We're gonna get lucky and see an otter.

NARRATOR: And as the season's first few inches of snow fall at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, or SERC, in Edgewater... (gate opens) NARRATOR: ...Senior Scientist Katrina Lohan and research technician Calli Wise are looking for similar clues, left behind in the night.

KATRINA: Yeah, I think that's scat.

Calli: So, that's gonna be scat.

KATRINA: Alright, you wanna take that sample?

CALLI: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Covered with snow, an otter has left a fresh deposit - data for the scientists.

KATRINA: Is it squishy or hard?

CALLI: Ahh, frozen solid.

KATRINA: Okay...well...I mean, DNA is preserved then.

CALLI: There's always been evidence that river otter populations in the Bay have existed.

And there are no publications with the words "Chesapeake Bay" in them related to river otters, period until the one that we just published.

NARRATOR: A look at the biology and ecology of river otters in the Bay watershed.

Like, hundreds of others, they will analyze this sample to find out what the otters have been eating.

KATRINA: One of the ways that we've been trying to study them is a non-invasive approach, where we find the areas called latrines, where they come up on land and leave poop for us.

NARRATOR: Visiting the same latrine site over and over.

KATRINA: They'll kind of search around and find a good spot.

They'll do a little back stomp with their back feet.

They'll wiggle their booty and then they'll squat.

NARRATOR: Beyond diet, these scat samples also reveal the parasites that infect both prey animals and the otters themselves... CALLI: This red thread here is the end of one of the worms... NARRATOR: Indicators of broader ecosystem health.

KATRINA: Parasites are so freaking cool.

They do crazy things where they'll, like, change their host behavior to make them more likely to get eaten.

While, negative for individuals, they're absolutely essential for populations and communities.

We wouldn't have these large-scale fisheries, or these apex predators like river otters, without the presence of parasites in food webs.

NARRATOR: Aiding the researchers are several trail cameras installed by a SERC staff member... which help shed light on otter behavior on the property.

CALLI: We've got the whole latrine in view.

NARRATOR: ...documenting their diet, including fish snacks... and a Maryland favorite.

KATRINA: Turns out river otters love blue crabs!

NARRATOR: Latrines are also a place to play and be social.

KATRINA: Really for them it's a communication hub.

NARRATOR: With pheromones in the scat conveying information about territory and identity.

Far from being a time to slow down, otters actually ramp up their social calendar in fall and winter - their rich diets supporting a high metabolism, and their dense fur providing complete protection from freezing air and water.

KATRINA: They do this throughout the winter to get an idea of who's also available for mating, which then will happen in the springtime.

NARRATOR: In the continued search for scat, the next latrine comes up empty.

KATRINA: Nope.

CALLI: I've got nothing.

KATRINA: But you can see what we call a slide which is this area here that they have used to come through.

NARRATOR: The otters have moved on, and Katrina and Calli follow suit, to a site where the cameras have picked up a spike of activity.

KATRINA: Snow makes a new dimension to poop hunting.

CALLI: Here, here's a whole bunch.

KATRINA: Oooh, nice.

CALLI: And you can still smell this one actually.

KATRINA: Delicious.

It just is this, like, fishy smelling splat.

CALLI: Yeah, this one's really fresh.

NARRATOR: The hunt for scat has also expanded beyond SERC and its 2,600 acres of high quality habitat to other parts of the Chesapeake.

CALLI: We are increasingly identifying otters in urban spaces.

NARRATOR: It's an early summer morning at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Conservation coordinator Taylor Long is picking up litter along the aquarium's 10,000-square-foot Harbor Wetland.

TAYLOR LONG: Now that Harbor Wetland is here, we take care of this every day.

It is an open exhibit for the public.

NARRATOR: Planted with native marsh plants, the artificial structure began attracting wildlife as soon as it was installed.

A true case of 'if you build it, they will come.

TAYLOR: We see a lot of waterfowl, a lot of ducks, a lot of geese.

'course we have a lot of small fish, small crabs, shrimp.

NARRATOR: Even a bullfrog tadpole or two.

TAYLOR: And we have had some mammals moving in.

I can definitely smell that the otter was here.

Smells very musty.

But before Harbor Wetland was here, there wasn't much habitat that was usable for them in the Inner Harbor.

NARRATOR: Twenty-four-seven cameras have shown otters making use of the floating wetland... and Taylor now collects her own scat samples.

TAYLOR: I see a little scale there, so that tells me that we probably had fish on the menu.

NARRATOR: Kept in a freezer at minus 20 degrees Celsius until they can be delivered to Calli and Katrina at SERC.

♪ ♪ CALLI: It is like opening a Christmas present.

In the aquarium scats, we have about 100 right now across a year period.

NARRATOR: Finally, here in the lab, they can begin to decode the story hidden in these pungent clues... CALLI: After each scat is rinsed, we dry them, and then you can use the hard parts that are left in the scat to identify what they've eaten.

NARRATOR: Genetic testing lets them take an even closer look - identifying species by the DNA they left behind, even where no visible trace remains.

CALLI: Meta barcoding is a tool that's enabled us to find many of the other smaller or less abundant items that are also part of the diet that would be hidden or lost using that other method.

River otters are interesting because we've always thought of them as cryptic and using a very specific natural type of habitat.

We're finding increasingly that these animals are really flexible.

They're acting as a bit of a generalist in how they use habitat and what their diet is.

NARRATOR: And as they make their presence known, they're bound to win more supporters.

TAYLOR: Especially when you get a really close up video of an otter, or you have an otter just looking right into the camera.

It's a really cool feeling.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: August in Annapolis... Steve Palmer and Mimi Engelsmen make their way down the dock, and settle into a familiar routine: checking lines... testing sails... inspecting the rudder.

Around them, other sailors are doing the same - in preparation for a day of racing on the Chesapeake Bay.

STEVE: We've got a lot of good competition.

Well, everyone's very good.

It all depends on...those who make the little mistakes today.

NARRATOR: Today is the CRAB Cup: an annual fundraiser race for local nonprofit Chesapeake Regional Accessible Boating, led by President Paul Bollinger, or Bo.

Paul: ...we are going to have 84 sailboats out on the line today... We were formed in 1991 by a gentleman who was paralyzed.

And he had been an avid sailor previously in his life, but he became depressed when he wasn't able to do that.

So, his friends noticed that, got him on a sailboat, and when he got back to shore, he said, that's it, I have got to do this for people.

And so, he got four boats... NARRATOR: These days, CRAB has six custom accessible sailboats, and adaptive boarding equipment.

PAUL: ...and in 2023, we opened the Premier Adaptive Boating Center here in Annapolis.

NARRATOR: Today's race promises a celebration of sailing...for all.

STEVE: It brings a lot of people together just to see what adaptive sailing can be like.

SAILOR: One, two, three, CRAB!!

NARRATOR: But while the CRAB Cup draws crowds... most days here are quieter and less competitive... with organized outings for various community groups... STEVE: Have you sailed before, Emily?

EMILY: I have.

STEVE: You have?

Oh, so you're a pro.

NARRATOR: Gearing up now, students Emily and Zach from the Benedictine School... STEVE: O'kay, this is our boat!

NARRATOR: ...an educational program supporting children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities... EMILY: I am excited.

PAUL: Have a great time!

NARRATOR: ...soon, they're motoring out with Steve, today in his role as one of CRAB's volunteer skippers.

STEVE: Last year, 'bout 1,800 people came through Crab, guest-wise.

I think 2,000 is our target for this year.

So, it's really just slow movements, yeah?

And then, straighten up a little.

NARRATOR: Under their skipper's guidance... STEVE: Yeah, push away, that way, push that way.

NARRATOR: Emily and Zach aren't just passengers.

STEVE: Okay, tackiiiiiing... NARRATOR: They're crew, empowered to take the helm and sail.

Steve's second crew of the day: Hunter and Christian from Walter Reed Medical Center, the country's largest military medical facility.

Christian grew up fishing on Georgia's waters, but today is his first time sailing.

STEVE: You can always just put the boat up into wind and you'll slow down and you'll stop.

CHRISTIAN: It is peaceful out there.

Just you, your boat, sunlight, just sightsee, all that.

NARRATOR: Steve knows from personal experience how healing this time on the water can be.

In 2010 while serving in the British army, he lost both his legs in an explosion.

Sailing became part of his rehab, taking him to the Rio Paralympic game trials, and on solo trips from England to Iceland, and up and down North America's East Coast.

STEVE: And then, after all that time, I was like, let's go come back and give back to the people I...I care about, disabled sailing and handicapped sailing.

I see the huge benefit of sailing for a lot of people in a lot of different disabilities.

You can forget a lot of things going out on the water.

And, you know, if you're in your chair, or there's a freedom from your chair, or if you're in care, it might be that hour, two hours, not being in care, not thinking about your disability or your ailment or an illness.

NARRATOR: Back on race day, the CRAB fleet - skippered by sailors with a range of disabilities - makes its way to meet almost 80 other boats at the starting buoy.

STEVE: Not a lot of wind, so we'll just see how we go.

I think momentum is key today.

NARRATOR: President Bo cheers them on from a spectator vessel.

PAUL: Bring home the silver!

NARRATOR: And after a 30 minute delay due to still skies, the wind picks up just enough, and they're off - Steve and the other CRAB skippers the first to begin the five mile loop to the finish.

PAUL: This is a pursuit race, and a pursuit race ranks the boats by their speed.

So, the slowest boats start first, and then the next faster, the next faster, the next faster... We've got a couple of miles across the Bay... NARRATOR: Before rounding the first mark.

PAUL: ...and then we'll sail north to the Bay bridge, and then it's a little bit of a run down the bay, which will be a little slower for our guys.

NARRATOR: The CRAB fleet's smaller sails means they can't catch as much breeze as competitors with larger rigs - especially on a light wind day.

PAUL: That's just one of the challenges.

On a good beat at 12 knots, they can hold their own.

NARRATOR: But today, as they work their way towards the last leg of the course...it's just not enough, leaving them stalled out in the baking summer sun.

PAUL: CRAB Cup race committee, this is the CRAB chase boat, we are gonna pull our fleet off the water.

You're not gonna make this mark.

There's no wind up there, none.

They're more concerned about where they got scored, so that's good.

They still have the attitude about wanting to win this race.

We just have to consider their safety and their health first.

NARRATOR: Disappointing, yes, but they're scored in their positions at the time of halting the race, with Steve's boat "Lindy" coming third in the CRAB fleet... STEVE: It's sail racing it's part of the thing, some days it's too windy some days it's like this, it's a beautiful day and just not enough.

I don't know there's no negative from the day I don't think.

NARRATOR: And the day isn't over yet.

It's now time to celebrate CRAB...fighting spirits... and most importantly, a day on the Chesapeake Bay for sailors of all abilities.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Searching hands probe the silty bottom of Nanjemoy Creek in Charles County... ...a small team of researchers inching their way up the headwaters... Enduring attacks by leeches... As they feel for an endangered species: the Dwarf wedgemussel.

MATT ASHTON: This would be a large, old individual for that species.

NARRATOR: Department of Natural Resources biologist Matt Ashton leads today's mussel hunt... MATT: Nice and open at least.

Can see well.

We usually have to crawl, and put our faces kind of as close to the stream bottom as we can.

NARRATOR: ...using aqua scopes to peer beneath the surface.

It's slow going.

An hour passes as they work their way not even 100 feet upstream, turning up more common species.

MATT: Atlantic spike.

REASEARCHER: He does look wedge-y.

MATT: So, that's an Eastern elliptio.

NARRATOR: Dwarf wedgemussels were once more common too, found in some 70 river systems from Canada to North Carolina.

But in recent decades they've all but disappeared... MATT: Dwarf wedgemussels are very small, so in a high flow if that velocity is too fast they'll get blown away.

They are reduced to really, probably less than ten, maybe even less than five viable populations on the Atlantic coast.

So, we come here about every five years to do the same survey sites.

NARRATOR: The data, revealing if the Dwarf wedgemussel is hanging on or if it needs more help.

MATT: In Nanjemoy Creek, the population is the largest in the state.

The watershed is largely forested still.

In forested watersheds even during really high flows from storms, the water doesn't rise very quickly.

NARRATOR: Adding up to a stable environment for these tiny mussels.

MATT: Mm, they're still here.

(laughs) WOMAN: They're thriving!

♪ ♪ Deliver your numbers and then I'm taking.

MATT: Yeah, counts.

NARRATOR: In the end, they are rewarded with a few precious specimens.

WOMAN 2: Two lance, three dwarf wedge.

MATT: Yep, those were the only three.

NARRATOR: Each one tagged... MATT: This is a passive integrated transponder, so like the microchips that you get inserted into your cats and dogs.

NARRATOR: And returned.

The Dwarf wedgemussel's story echoes a broader pattern of freshwater mussel decline.

MATT: The mussels are filtering sediment out of the water, they're removing nutrients and putting it into their body as they grow.

NARRATOR: ...meaning when a waterway is suffering, mussels can feel it.

And pollution isn't the only culprit.

The damming of rivers has also contributed, by hindering the movement of fish - key players in the mussel's lifecycle.

MATT: They require a fish host to transform.

NARRATOR: Few Maryland mussels illustrate this more hypnotically than the Genus lampsilis.

In the Potomac River, when conditions are right, females expose a flap of soft tissue called the mantle - shaped by evolution to mimic a small prey fish.

Rhythmic twitching, and even an eye spot, complete the effect.

The goal: to attract a hungry predator fish...a host, whose gills the mussel's microscopic larvae will attach to - aquatic hitchhikers, until they're ready for life on the riverbed.

MATT: Pollution or dams disrupted the mussels' life cycle, because it also disrupted the ability of their host fish to move about.

(trunk slams) JORGE BOGANTES MONTERO: Alright, ready?

NARRATOR: Jorge Bogantes Montero of the Anacostia Watershed Society is in the middle of a years-long quest to survey all the headwater streams of the heavily developed Anacostia for mussels.

He's making his first-ever visit to this stretch of lower Beaverdam Creek.

JORGE: It's known to be one of the most polluted tributaries because of the industrial activities around here.

NARRATOR: And because of the density of roads and rooftops, surfaces that send polluted stormwater rushing into the creek... Today, a 30-minute rapid assessment.

JORGE: We have visibility here on the bottom.

If we find any mussels, we'll do a longer survey.

A one-hour survey.

NARRATOR: One of Jorge's tricks of the trade is to look for mussels in an unexpected spot.

JORGE: Interestingly, car tires sometimes may have mussels.

NARRATOR: And a rake designed to collect Sand fleas at the beach is perfect for pulling up specimens.

But along the heavily eroded banks of this stream... it's a strikeout.

At their second survey site of the day, Indian Creek in Berwyn Heights, Jorge finds more trash... but also more promising signs.

JORGE: This one has similar issues but not as, as terrible as the Lower Beaverdam.

So, it looks like conditions are better for bivalves in general here.

NARRATOR: Soon, they spot a distinctive shell.

SURVEYOR: And turns out it's a mussel.

JORGE: This is a great sign.

A relic shell.

Do you wanna take a picture?

SURVEYOR: Yeah!

JORGE: This means that we're going to look more here because it looks like we're up to something here.

NARRATOR: If they find living mussels here, it could be a viable site for Jorge's mussel reintroduction efforts... ♪ ♪ Since 2018, staff and volunteers have grown hatchery-raised mussels in baskets throughout the tidal part of the river, representing five of the Anacostia's eight native species.

JORGE: Let's say like, a hundred to 300 mussels can go in this basket.

We can grow mussels here for about a year.

They get a size like this or even bigger.

Once, you put them with pond water or river water, that's when their growth goes up, yeah, very fast.

NARRATOR: To date, more than 38,000 mussels have been released into the Anacostia river.

♪ ♪ On the Potomac, about 100 miles upstream from its confluence with the Anacostia, Matt and natural resources technician Megan Kubala are also studying potential sites for future mussel reintroduction - ten of them across almost 70 miles of the river.

MATT: It's such a big area.

It's not like, a small stream like Nanjemoy Creek where we can walk the entire extent in an hour.

We're only getting a snapshot of parts of it.

NARRATOR: Sheltered inside concrete silos, they've kept young Eastern elliptio mussels to see how well they fare.

MATT: Most of the mussels that are presently found in the Potomac are anywhere from 40 to 100 years old.

Even though there are adult mussels here, they could just be hanging on but it doesn't mean that the population can grow on its own.

NARRATOR: Juvenile mussels are particularly sensitive - and the region's history of deforestation and coal mining left a lasting mark, though the forests have returned and the river is healthier.

MATT: We wanted to answer the question whether or not the juvenile life stage can grow and basically make it through its first year of life.

NARRATOR: So far, so good.

MEGAN KUBALA: We actually have not had any mortalities yet.

NARRATOR: And measuring the mussels reveals that they've added several millimeters since the start of the study.

In just a few weeks, they'll be released into the river, breathing new life into this aging ecosystem.

But first, they need to be tagged.

And because they're still small, the team has a colorful solution.

MEGAN: We're just tagging them all with the same tag.

In this case it's glitter.

NARRATOR: Once they're released, it may take decades to find out whether they're reproducing and building up the wild mussel beds that once covered wide swathes of the Potomac, feeding wildlife and filtering pollution.

MATT: It probably needs a couple million more mussels to be at carrying capacity.

NARRATOR: Thankfully, the river itself is already changing course, giving these humble inhabitants a chance to succeed.

MATT: If you look at it from a historical context, there wouldn't have been a single tree behind you.

Now conditions, compared to where they were a hundred, 200 years ago are markedly better.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: To stream episodes of Outdoors Maryland , visit mpt.org/outdoors and don't forget to follow us on social media.

(owl hoots) Learn more about Maryland's diverse natural resources at dnr.maryland.gov, or download the official mobile app.

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