Aggressive Sea Otter Targeting Surfers In Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, CA — It started innocently enough.

“This sea otter was putting on quite a show checking out and climbing on multiple boards, but it choose the blue one as its preferred ride,” said a June 18 post on the Facebook account Native Santa Cruz, which multiple media outlets reported is run by photographer Mark Woodward.

The initial post included photos of the animal surrounded by smiling surfers and riding the water. A few weeks later, the otter approached another surfer, but this run-in wasn’t so friendly.

“There was another sea otter and surfer encounter today at Steamer Lane,” Native Santa Cruz posted July 6. “The surfer did exactly the right thing in discouraging the sea otter.”

Two days later, the otter continued to menace the Santa Cruz surfing community.

“Once again, I witnessed another sea otter and surfboard encounter,” the July 8 post from Native Santa Cruz said. “I do believe it’s been the same otter, but this time it was extremely aggressive and the surfer abandoned his board and swam to shore.”

The otter has struck at least four times, according to Santa Cruz police, who said the animal is biting and scratching boards, and warned surfers in the West Cliff area to beware. A team of experts is working to relocate the animal, police said.

Once she is captured, the 5-year-old otter will undergo examination at Monterey Bay Aquarium, KGO reported.

She was born in captivity after her mother was fed by humans and became aggressive, according to KTVU, which added the otter was eventually released into the wild.

Last fall, she started interacting with people and was hazed by wildlife experts, KTVU reported, adding such behavior can be related to hormonal surges or receiving food from humans.