KEY POINTS
- A sea otter, unafraid of humans, has been harrassing surfers and commandeering their boards.
- Authorities are attempting to capture and rehome her.
- Photographer watched her eating crabs before she turned on surfers.
Wanted: One bad-tempered sea otter that has been attacking California surfers and commandeering their boards.
Wildlife authorities in the city of Santa Cruz, about a 90-minute drive south of San Francisco, have posted a warning to the public about the creature, which they say is a five-year-old female.
She has been harrassing surfers for weeks but of late her marauding has risen to a new level.
In a stunning video posted Monday on Twitter, the otter climbs up on one surfer's board, and hangs on as he tries to shake and roll it to get her off. At one point the otter lunges at him, and eventually starts biting the board. She is downright relentless.
The authorities have put out an all-points bulletin about this critter.
"Due to the increasing public safety risk, a team from CDFW [California Department of Fish and Wildlife] and the Monterey Bay Aquarium trained in the capture and handling of sea otters has been deployed to attempt to capture and rehome her," reads a statement from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. CDFW is the equivalent California state agency.
Mark Woodward, who runs the Twitter account NativeSantaCruz, said he had watched the sea otter "being normal" eating crabs before it turned on those out on their boards. Source: Twitter / Mark Woodward/@NativeSantaCruz
"It tried a few boards before settling in the one it wanted," Woodward tweeted on Tuesday, adding that it was being "very aggressive" and "took bites out of a few boards".
"This has become a dangerous situation for both surfers and the sea otter!," he said.
He added: "If you’re in the water and it comes to you, do everything possible to get away, use your board as a shield and splash water at it."
Woodward said the otter had not bitten anyone yet, but local police said it had been "biting, scratching, and climbing on surfboards"."There have been four incidents of otter interactions with surfers in Santa Cruz," Santa Cruz Police wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
Mark Woodward said the sea otter "tried a few boards before settling in on the one it wanted". Source: Twitter / Mark Woodward/@NativeSantaCruz
The animals are still endangered but they have fought back and it's believed there are around 3,000 of them in the waters of the northern Pacific.
Coming across a sea otter in the water is rare but not unheard of for surfers, kayak enthusiasts and sailors.
With their little heads sticking out of the water as they swim, sometimes upside down, people tend to find them cute.
But these animals are actually aggressive predators and their bites are dangerous.
Chomp chomp: The sea otter took bites out of a few surfboards, Woodward said. Source: Twitter / Mark Woodward/@NativeSantaCruz
Local scientists know her. The New York Times reported that this sea otter was born in captivity to a mother who lost her innate fear of humans after being fed by them so often.
"I was scared," Joon Lee, who was attacked by the otter on Sunday, told the Los Angeles Times.
"I was trying to swim away, but before I was able to get far, it bit my leash," he said, describing the tether that surfers wear around their ankle to connect themselves to their board. "So I panicked."
In August last year, a walrus nicknamed Freya that been climbing on moored boats in Norway was euthanised after she was deemed a danger to humans.
