Ripples on the River: Celebrating the Return of the Otter

by Laurie Campbell, Anna Levin

A celebration of the return of the otter to the UK's rivers and freshwater wetlands after a drastic decline in the twentieth century.

Ripples of excitement are spreading through Europe's rivers. A generation ago, otter watching was a wildlife highlight restricted to remote coastal areas--otter populations had been decimated over the previous century by pesticide poisoning and habitat disturbance. But recent decades have seen the positive effects of determined conservation efforts to clean up our waterways, and now otters are returning and spreading throughout their former habitats.

One of the UK's leading natural history photographers, Laurie Campbell, was delighted to discover otters on the Tweed, a river he has known all his life and the discovery launched him on a quest to create a photographic account of the lives of freshwater otters.

Two decades later, otter numbers have steadily increased, and new generations of otters in busier sites have become more confident around people, sometimes appearing in broad daylight. Laurie is dedicated to photographing wild creatures in their habitats and is acclaimed for his use of natural light and natural situations. Advances in technology have created cameras able to function in low levels of light, greatly enhancing the scope for photography at dawn and dusk, and his exquisite photographs reveal behavior and moments rarely captured by other nature photographers.

In this beautiful photographic book, extended captions by Anna Levin recount Laurie's observations as he photographs otters through the changing seasons. Together they weave a wealth of information about otter biology, ecology and behavior into the story the pictures tell, set in the context of the river system itself and the other wildlife that shares the otters' habitat.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Laurie Schnebly
Romance

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone with a love of wildlife this book is a joy, a cornucopia of some of the finest images of British Wildlife, images that are a testament to the patience, and technical brilliance of probably the greatest photographer of UK Wildlife.

Laurie Campbell's images are regularly seen in magazines (BCC Wildlife, and Countrylife to name two), and his monthly column in Outdoor Photography gives insights into the quality and range of his work. "Ripples" brings together many images and showcases his years of work with Otters on the River Tweed.

Interspersed with the pictures Anna Lewin's words paint a wonderful story, one that tells of the miracle of the Otter's return, and Laurie Campbell's dedicated approach to taking photographs. She has obviously spent many hours with him and her descriptions of events, surroundings, and the thrill of encounters with wildlife are almost visceral. One quote might illustrate this; "There's almost an in-between season before autumn really happens; a quiet, damp, muddy limbo when the birds are looking tatty, and the plants are dying away. The riverbanks are scented with the sweet mustiness from the decaying leaves of the butterbur", reading it brings back remembrances and sights that are etched into memory.

From the dust jacket to the final page the Otter is ever present, the book contains what must be the best collection of images of this shy and enigmatic creature that have ever been assembled. To see an Otter is still a rare and precious moment, to photograph them in such detail is almost miraculous. "Ripples"gives us the opportunity to share that miracle, it is simply beautiful.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this cover to cover, which is perhaps unusual for a photographic book but it was worthwhile doing so. The photographers' love of the river Tweed and the connection with a sense of place had otters as a primary sub-plot to what was actually a meander through the authors experience of life on the river. What this book did well was sticking to that one place, building a sense of time and sentimentality through the seasons. There was little pontification in the narrative, told with minimal emotion and keeping author, photographer and subjects at arms length, like a softly focused photo rather than one with hard edges. It perhaps lacked a strong story-telling arc, however, as we didn't really get to know any individual animals that well; it was neither science, photographic guide or conservation story. It ended up being just what it was, nothing more or less than a nice run through of beautiful photos and descriptions of an idyllic freshwater ecosystem in South-east Scotland.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of stunning photographs from the River Tweed, mostly of otters, but also of their environment and the other flora and fauna of the location. Unlike many other otter books, Campbell doesn't just focus on the 'cute' pictures, but shows a wide range of otter behaviour. Unfortunately, the book is let down by Levin's hackneyed and cliché-ridden prose, which is a real shame. It would have been much better if the publisher had either commissioned an otter expert to produce an accompanying essay or had simply relied on Campbell to provide informative captions. As it is,the text provides a lot of fluffy waffle but very little actual information.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos.