The Otterwatch Project provides a means by which we can monitor otters that regularly pass through the Winchester City Mill. The system has been in place for over 10 years, and started when the Environment Agency installed the first cameras in the nineties. Since 2006, the CCTV cameras have been upgraded and altered many times, enabling the mill to share with its visitors the quite unusual relationship between this old building and the completely wild otters that make it part of their territory.

More recently, the project has benefited from a partnership between the National Trust, who own and run the city mill, the Environment Agency, who are responsible for the River Itchen, that flows through the mill; and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, who protect the nature and wildlife around Winchester. Supplemented by some technology provided by IBM and the University of Exeter, the Otterwatch project has become a unique resource, capable of monitoring wildlife as it passes through the mill, and automatically identifying if the animals are otters.

This site is not intended to be widely accessible. For more information about the National Trust, the City Mill and other related matters, please see the links below:

• Winchester City Mill National Trust Site - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/winchester-city-mill
• Follow us on Twitter - @WCMOtters
• National Trust
• About European Otters
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
• Hampshire CC - River Itchen

This site is intended for use by volunteers and staff at the Winchester City Mill who manage the Otterwatch system. This system records footage of wild otters as they pass through the mill's buildings. It also will tweet a screen capture of the otter, when it is pretty sure that it is an otter it's seen!

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Otterwatch Documentation Wiki