Giant River Otter Catching an Electric Eel

I love the oxbow lake here at Cocha Cashu in Manu Park. We went out canoeing today, and I saw the giant river otters for the third time during my stay here. They are such magnificent creatures. This lake has such a tranquility and serenity that I’ve never experienced anywhere else in the world.

We are the only ones out on the lake. I can hear a pin drop. Even talking quietly I can still hear my echo across the lake. So when the otters squeal at each other, the sound reverberates and echoes across the whole lake louder than a siren. And the otters are only one of a myriad of sounds I constantly hear.

I notice two species of kingfishers, the purple water chicken, the hoatzin, an eagle, cormorants, casikes, small yellow birds, a red-nosed duck, egrets, and a host of other birds. I don’t see the caimans underneath the water.

And then the giant river otters show up. There is a family of three of them. I see that one of them has a fish in its mouth. On closer inspection, I can see that the fish is actually an electric eel. Wow. I didn’t expect to see an electric eel on this trip. The eel is bleeding. I think it’s dead.