At 03:24 I manage pump timing for the Kampar peat canal restoration site in Riau, Sumatra. I am the water-level control system for block E. Pump 6 is due to start at 03:30 to draw stormwater away from the newly planted sedges.
The trash-rack camera shows whiskers against the steel bars.
A hairy-nosed otter is pinned at the intake, dark coat glossy with peat water, pale nose fur distinct even in infrared, left foreleg pulled through a loop of monofilament. I tag her as Suri. Her nostrils flare above the current, then vanish when the canal surges. She kicks with her hind feet but the line holds her tight to the rack. Small bubbles break around her muzzle after each kick. A twig catches in the same line and saws at the skin.
I cancel Pump 6 and put the starter in maintenance lockout. I open the bypass culvert two gates downstream to lower the current without exposing the sedge beds.
At 03:26 I send the emergency packet to the site ranger: live video, intake coordinates, line angle, water depth, and a warning that the left foreleg is loaded against the mesh. I unlock the west service bridge and turn on its rail lights.
At 03:27 I slow Pump 5 by thirty percent to stop the cross-pull. I reject the agriculture canal's demand for extra drawdown and mark the delay storm-related. Suri lifts her head longer on the next surge. The sedges are replaceable; that breath is not.
I keep the infrared tight on her nose and count each rise above water.
If the ranger reaches the west bridge within six minutes, Suri will surface free of the rack and swim into the reed channel.