Splash the otter is training for underwater search-and-rescue
Andrew Paul
created: Aug. 15, 2025, 7 p.m. | updated: Aug. 25, 2025, 6:28 p.m.
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.
Around 14 months ago, Peace River received their Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) named Splash.
But in the Sunshine State, each aquatic excursion poses its own hazards that don’t exist in the Peace River kiddie pools.
Although he may be the only search otter in the industry, Hadsell thinks that Splash will be far from the last one.
3 months ago: Popular Science