Wildlife officials were trying to capture a wayward sea otter Thursday that has been wrestling surfboards away from surfers and aggressively approaching kayakers off the coast of Santa Cruz, California.
The 5-year-old female otter has shown aggression toward people for several weeks and poses a public safety risk, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement.
Video and photographs shared on social media show the marine mammal getting on top of different surfboards — on at least one occasion biting and tearing chunks off a board — and aggressively approaching surfers.
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A team of wildlife experts with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium were working to capture and put the animal in a new home, the service said.
“While there have been no confirmed reports of injury, due to the highly unusual behavior of this otter, kayakers, surfers, and others recreating in the area should not approach the otter or encourage the otter’s interactions,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
Federal wildlife officials said the otter’s behavior is highly unusual and the exact cause for such behavior is unknown.
“Aggressive behavior in female southern sea otters may be associated with hormonal surges or due to being fed by humans,” federal officials said.
The animal, which wildlife officials named sea otter 841, was born in captivity and released into the wild in June 2020. She is tagged with her number and has a radio transmitter that officials are monitoring to find and capture her, wildlife officials said.
They said it is not the first time the otter has shown aggressiveness toward humans. The sea otter was observed approaching people in late 2021. Last May, she was spotted with a pup in the Santa Cruz area and four months later exhibited similar aggressive behavior.
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In September, a team of California…
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