River Otter Swims Through the Fish Ladder to Star in a Video Schuylkill River, March 20, 2005 9:20 PM The image below shows a rare glimpse at an even rarer aquatic species for our area - a River Otter (Lutra canadensis) was spotted enjoying a night swim through the Fish Ladder at Fairmount Dam! Click the image below to view video footage of the event. Still Image Gallery of River Otter Photos Available Here. The sighting happened recently when aquatic biologists from the Philadelphia Water Department reviewed digitized video from a high-resolution camera installed in the Fish Ladder's viewing window. The camera and video are used to track annual fish migration patterns in the Schuylkill River. There is much excitement around the spotting of the otter, so check back soon for more news and developments! Watch videos of the River Otter footage in alternate video formats: River Otter in Windows Media Player Format River Otter in Apple Quicktime Format External links to media player installers/plug-ins: Macromedia Flash Player Apple Quicktime Player Microsoft Windows Media Player ### Top of Page