Angry sea otter shreds surfer's board in California
While sharks likely spring to mind as one of the scariest animals in the ocean, surfers off the coast of Santa Cruz have lately been terrorized by something much cuter — a 5-year-old female sea otter.
Video taken on July 9 captured the particularly aggressive otter taking issue with one surfer’s position in the lineup off Cowell Beach.
The marine mammal is seen biting the board and getting on top of it, prompting the surfer — 40-year-old Apple software engineer Joon Lee, according to the Los Angeles Times — to release his board for a moment and swim away.
When Lee reclaims the front of his board and tries to gingerly flip the otter off, she digs her teeth into the board, gets right back on and forces the software engineer to back off yet again.
The otter is then seen shredding, not the waves, but the side of Lee’s board with its teeth.
A sea otter was captured on video going toe-to-toe with a surfer and his board in Santa Cruz on July 9, 2023.
“At first, we were like, ‘Look, how cute?’ But then it bit down on the board and chewed off a piece, and we were like, ‘What’s going on?’” Lee, who was eventually able to get back to shore unhurt, told the Times.
Though people on the beach can be heard in the video laughing during the confrontation, wildlife officials say the same otter has been menacing surfers off the Santa Cruz coastline for the last several weeks and they are actively working to capture the marine mammal.
Adult sea otters can grow up to four feet long with females weighing as much as 50 pounds, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Despite how cute they may look, getting bitten by a sea otter can cause serious injury.
Federal and state wildlife officials have even taken to posting signs at some Santa Cruz beaches saying, “Aggressive sea otter in this area, enter the water at your own risk.”
This particular sea otter is known to wildlife officials because she was born in captivity. Her mother had to be captured for aggression as well, likely after being fed by humans, the Times reported.
Jessica Fuji, scientific and operational leader of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Program told the Times that once the 5-year-old female sea otter is captured, she will be taken to the aquarium for monitoring and a full checkup.
Source: KTLA Los Angeles
