River Otters and the Detroit River comeback

River Otter by Ashleigh Mowers

Great Lakes Now has an excellent feature on the return of river otters to the Detroit River that says (in part):

On the cool morning of April 25, doctoral student Eric Ste Marie from the University of Windsor’s department of integrative biology went out for a walk with his partner along the Detroit River prior to an anticipated long day in his lab. Much to his surprise, he saw an animal pop its head out of the water. It was too big to be a mink and, as it dove, he noticed that it did not have a flat beaver tail. Ste Marie ran out to the end of a pier beneath the Ambassador Bridge to get a closer look to check, and there it was: a river otter.

River otters were quite common in southeast Michigan, including the Detroit River, up through the arrival of European explorers and fur traders,” said Gearld P. Wykes, a historian from the Monroe County Museum System. “During the fur trade era, they were much sought after for their fur, along with beaver. Based on historical records, river otters were likely extirpated from the Detroit River in the early 1900s.”

In 1986, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources reintroduced river otters into high water quality rivers and streams in eastern Ohio. The river otters thrived. As their population grew, they began to move westward – what scientists call expanding their range. By the early 2000s, they had found a home in western Ohio, particularly near Cedar Point and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, just east of Toledo.

…Biologists studying the Detroit River and resource managers have been excited about the possible range expansion of river otters into the Detroit River. There have been a few anecdotal reports from citizens, but no photographic or videographic proof until Ste Marie was greeted with that ecological surprise on the morning of April 25.

…River otters are considered an indicator species, and their return to the Detroit River after an absence of more than 100 years is a hopeful sign of improving watershed conditions.

Ashleigh took this back in 2016 in Detroit at the Detroit Zoo. Hopefully she gets a shot of them in the wild! See more in her Detroit gallery on Flickr & for sure check out her Go See Do Photography website for more great pics!

More about River otters on Michigan in Pictures.

Heading upriver

The Karen Andrie and Endeavor by Craig Hensley

Craig got this tasty shot of the tugboat Karen Andrie and the barge Endeavor making their way up the Detroit River last summer. Detroit is on the left & Windsor, Canada is on the right. 

Head over to Craig’s Flickr and his website for more!

Ecorse, Little Venice of the West End

Morning, Ecorse, MI, March, 2017, photo by Norm Powell

It’s always cool to discover new websites about Michigan, and my search for more on the history of Ecorse led me to Mr. Cosbey’s History of Ecorse at the website Along the Detroit River. It was written by  Ecorse High School history teacher John Howard Cosbey and is very comprehensive – here’s a slice:

The River Aux Ecorces appears in history as early as 1763 as the retreat of Pontiac and allied chiefs in the famous plot to rid the mid-west of the encroaching white settlers. It was known also as a favorite burying ground of the Indian tribes in the locality.

It appears, however, on the evidence of birth records and of the statements of sworn witnesses in court that the first white settlements at the River Aux Ecorces were made during the period between 1784 and 1797, probably about 1785.

…The Detroit Free Press for July 2, 1905, tells of the “Little Venice of the West End”:

“All along the river shores from Fort Wayne to the Village of Ecorse, some hardier folks of Detroit who like to keep cool cheaply have boat houses in which they live during the summer. “The Little Venice of the West End,” they call it, and it is truly a colony of resorters distinct in itself.

“The rich may go to Grosse Point, to the mountains or to the sea shore, those of limited means, such as skilled mechanics, clerks, and other small salaried men with families may easily afford to rent a cottage built out upon the piers of Ecorse’s “Little Venice.” There they may have the air and the cool of the river, in fact, all of the real luxuries of a more exclusive colony, and at much less cost.

“Every day the resorters of Ecorse, who have business in the city, travel back and forth on the trolley. And every evening fish, boat and bathe with the women and children before the very doors of their summer homes.”

View Norm’s photo bigger and see more in his slideshow.

Wyandotte Waterfront Nuclear Sunrise

Wyandotte Waterfront Nuclear Sunrise, photo by 1adamtwelve

“….when the sun comes up, I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It’s so beautiful.”
-Forrest Gump

Adam shares that this photo was captured at sunrise along Wyandotte’s waterfront while he was flirting with Mother Nature, something I think we could probably all use more of.

You can view this bigger and see more in Adam’s slideshow. One note – there are  few tasteful boudoir shots in there, so if that’s something you’d rather not see, don’t click the link!

Catch of the Day on the Detroit River

Fisherman on the river…, photo by Linda Goodhue

Linda wanted to catch the sunset and the Detroit skyline from the Ontario shore of the Detroit River and she got this shot as well!

View it bigger and see more in her slideshow.

October Vibes in le détroit du Lac Érie

October Vibes, photo by Camera Jesus

Simply spectacular view of the city of Detroit.

The name of Detroit comes from “le détroit du Lac Érie” – French for the Straits of Lake Erie and referring to the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair that link Erie with Lake Huron. Wikipedia has a pretty nice writeup on the Detroit River:

The Detroit River flows for 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. By definition, this classifies it as both a river and a strait — a strait being a narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water, which is how the river earned its name from early French settlers. However, today, the Detroit River is rarely referred to as a strait, because bodies of water referred to as straits are typically much wider.

The Detroit River is only 0.5 to 2.5 miles (0.80 to 4.02 km) wide. The Detroit River starts on an east to west flow but then bends and runs north to south. The deepest portion of the Detroit River is 53 feet (16 m) deep in the northern portion of the river. At its source, the river is at an elevation of 574 feet (175 m) above sea level. The river drops only three feet before entering into Lake Erie at 571 feet (174 m). As the river contains no dams and no locks, it is easily navigable by even the smallest of vessels. The watershed basin for the Detroit River is approximately 700 square miles (1,800 km2).

Since the river is fairly short, it has few tributaries. Its largest tributary is the River Rouge in Michigan, which is actually four times longer than the Detroit River and contains most of the basin. The only other major American tributary to the Detroit River is the much smaller Ecorse River. Tributaries on the Canadian side include Little Creek and the River Canard. The discharge for the Detroit River is relatively high for a river of its size. The river’s average discharge is approximately 188,000 cubic feet per second (5,324 m³/s), and the river’s flow is constant.

Check out Detroit 1701 for a bit of the river’s history and also be sure to support the Friends of the Detroit River who are doing great work to restore this corridor.

View the photo background bigilicious, follow Camera Jesus on Facebook for lots more and view & purchase Joe’s Detroit photos (and others) from his website.

More Michigan rivers on Michigan in Pictures!

When Tall Met Long

When Tall Met Long, photo by Derek Farr

View Derek’s photo bigger and see more in his Renaissance Center slideshow!

More Renaissance Center photos and info on Michigan in Pictures.