Surfboard Bandit Sea Otter Prowls Santa Cruz

Orcas continue to attack yachts in the Mediterranean, sharks still menace bathers in Australia, and humpback whales are terrorizing fishermen off the Canadian coast. Now comes a new marauder, a sea otter who bullies surfers in Santa Cruz.

The five-year-old female has been harassing wave riders, sometimes seizing and damaging the surfboards she commandeers. Her attacks have been increasingly aggressive, enough so that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking action. 

“Due to the increasing public safety risk, a team from C.D.F.W. and the Monterey Bay Aquarium trained in the capture and handling of sea otters has been deployed to attempt to capture and rehome her,” the department said in a statement.

The CDFW is already familiar with the pirate surfer, a creature the department refers to as Otter 841. This sea otter was orphaned as a pup and reared by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, then set free at about a year old. Sea otters usually keep their distance from humans, but occasionally a hormonal surge at a certain age can bring on aggressive behaviors, which appears to be what’s happening with 841. 

The cheeky girl harassed her first surfer in 2021 in what was hoped to be an isolated incident, but in recent weeks she’s stepped up the attacks, recording three last weekend alone. The encounters can be dreadful for the surfer and deadly for the otter, because if she ever bites a human the CDFW will have no choice (they say) but to euthanize her.

For now the department is trying to catch Otter 841. If they do, she’ll be brought back to the aquarium and eventually relocated, presumably far from the wave riders of Santa Cruz.

Photo credit: Mark Woodward / Native Santa Cruz