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She has been harrassing surfers for weeks but of late her marauding has risen to a new level.
“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
Photographer 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.
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
Settlers in America used to hunt sea otters for their pelts until the early 20th century, and their numbers dwindled almost to the point of extinction.
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.
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
The behaviour of this one female in the waters off Santa Cruz is nonetheless uncommon, and experts are puzzled as to her level of aggression.
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.
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.
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