Brown, M. (2022, February 1). Decline in Wales’ otter population linked to river pollution. Nature World News. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/49143/20220201/otters-declining-population-river-pollution.htm
Recent studies by the NRW (Narutal Resources Wales) show a huge decrease in the number of otters in the UK, causing concerns for enviornmentalists and citizens. The otters are important because they are an indicator species for the rivers, so when the species numbers start to decline, it signals that there could be a huge threat to the health of the ecosytems and surrounding wetlands. According to group studies, harmful chemicals from plastics called PFASs were found in all the otters researched. This means that the rivers are so polluted, it could cause species to completely die out. Although there’s not enough evidence to prove the only cause of otter decline is water pollution, there’s definetley reasonable data to consider it a contributing factor.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that all of the otters in the study had PFASs inside of them during the same time the species was facing a major decline in population. This definitely has something to do with water pollution and poor water management systems throughout England. I wouldn’t be surprised if this issue continues to get worse and makes an impact on other animals that depend on this polluted river water, which could end up causing a loss of biodiversity and ecosystems. I think it’s sad that it might take a loss of a whole species for people to see the lasting impacts of using plastic and other products that are harmful to the environment.
I haven’t heard of PFASs before, but have no doubt that as a derivative of plastic they could be toxic and cause problems. Sad to hear about the otters. I wonder if they are a keystone species in the UK like they are here in CA (controlling urchins and helping to maintain the kelp forests). Did the article mention if there were any legal protections that could be put in place? I know they don’t have an End. Sp. Act like we do. Cleaning up plastic pollution, and preventing it, is one of our challenges in the 21st century. I’m hopeful that it can be done, but we have our work cut out for us. This was another well written post from you, Megan. I hope your topic kept you interested. We’ll get more into water pollution as a class in coming days.
Thanks for the comment! I’m not sure if they’re a keystone species, but they definitely are important to many species in the rivers, as well as being an indicator species. The article didn’t mention any laws being put in place, I’m assuming this was because the data wasn’t strong enough to prove that the PFASs were the only cause of the otters decline in population.