'Splash', a 2-year-old otter, joins Florida Police Department as cute colleague to aid in underwater search and rescue missions and look absolutely adorable while doing it: '[He's] an incredible asset'

Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager

Nov 12, 2025 9:00 AM EST

It seems like everyone is adopting animals into police forces nowadays. We're not complaining, in fact, this is some welcome news amongst everything else that's happening in the world. Last week, we thought the Vermont Police Force broke the cuteness meter by adding a French bulldog to their pawlice force (he's responsible for assisting kids to school and making sure there are no leftover donuts going bad), but Florida always has to come through and one-up everyone else. This state added an otter, yes, a 2-year-old Asian otter named 'Splash', to their search and rescue team. Splash is the first otter ever search and rescue otter!

While reading about Splash, we learned that otters have an incredible sense of smell; they're even able to smell underwater by exhaling and breathing the same air again, sensing any changes in smell thanks to its contact with the water. But why does the police force need help smelling underwater?

Well, if you've ever been to Florida, you know that it's very… swampy. There are lots of areas with water, and police dogs can often lead teams to water, but can't go any further as they can't smell past it. Splash will assist in missing persons cases and will look absolutely adorable while doing it. Good luck, Splash!

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via brutamerica, Martin County Sheriff's Office via Facebook
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Now, we're just looking for excuses for why our offices need an otter. We have nothing to do with missing persons, nor do we have any bodies of water next to us, but still, there must be some sort of excuse we can give to our boss to hire an otter. Maybe they can be our mascot? We'll take care of them every day, we promise!
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via brutamerica, Martin County Sheriff's Office via Facebook
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via brutamerica, Martin County Sheriff's Office via Facebook
We have never once considered moving to Florida before, but now, it's definitely on the table. We might even purposefully go missing so that Splash can find us. It sounds kind of nice to disconnect from everything, no phone, no people, just floating in some water for a few days until an otter comes and holds our hands.
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via brutamerica, Martin County Sheriff's Office via Facebook
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via brutamerica, Martin County Sheriff's Office via Facebook
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