Social media lighted up this previous vacation weekend with the return of Santa Cruz’s most notorious sea mammal: the surfboard-stealing Otter 841.
“841 is again within the 831 at Steamer Lane,” Mark Woodward crowed on the social media platform X. Steamer Lane is among the seaside city’s hottest browsing websites, and 831 is the Santa Cruz space code. Woodward is a social media influencer often known as Native Santa Cruz.
Observers of the Santa Cruz Longboard Union Memorial Day contest captured photographs and movies of an otter calmly cleansing herself atop a board she’d hijacked, which she shared peacefully with a gobsmacked surfer.
Woodward mentioned that though that critter was in all probability 841 — the habits appeared fully in line — he was unable to supply a 100% constructive identification; he couldn’t see the hallmark blue tag affixed to her left flipper after being born in after which launched from captivity.
He had, nonetheless, seen the 6-year-old otter within the neighborhood over the weekend — and he captured a number of photographs that he posted on-line — after a five-month hiatus. She disappeared along with her pup as December storms rolled in throughout the Pacific and walloped California’s Central Coast.
“She disappeared the yr earlier than too,” he mentioned, noting that she was nowhere to be seen between September 2022 and early June 2023. “Appears to be her sample.”
He mentioned he didn’t see her pup along with her over the weekend, however that was to be anticipated. Otters usually nurse their younger for less than six to eight months earlier than weaning them and sending them off to crab, fish and independently work together with their surroundings.
Otter 841 was seen accompanied by a small otter — presumably her pup — all through October and November, placing her child’s age at round 7 or 8 months.
“Sea otters are naturally cautious of individuals, however some people exhibit aggressive tendencies that could be exacerbated by being pregnant, unlawful feeding, or repeated publicity to shut approaches by folks,” Vanessa Morales, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, mentioned in an announcement.
She mentioned there have been no fast plans to seize 841, and she or he requested the general public to be “further cautious when recreating round sea otters.”
“If a sea otter approaches you, that’s irregular habits. It’s your accountability to keep away from and discourage these interactions,” she mentioned.
Otter 841 grabbed nationwide consideration final yr as she chased surfers and their boards all through the legendary surf spots hugging the California coast between Santa Cruz’s lighthouse and wharf. For months, federal officers tried to seize her, however she eluded their makes an attempt. They lastly gave up and urged surfers, swimmers and boaters to avoid the curious otter.
Woodward mentioned authorities businesses have reached out on to him, pleading with him to inform his tens of hundreds of followers on X, Instagram and Fb to stay away from 841.
“For his or her security, keep at the least 50’ away from sea otters and all marine life, it’s the legislation and likewise widespread sense, so please assist preserve them secure,” he wrote on Fb.
Sea otters have been as soon as discovered from Mexico to Alaska, and even Japan, based on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s web site. Immediately, that vary has turn into a lot smaller. In California, solely about 3,000 otters stay alongside a 300-mile expanse from Half Moon Bay to Level Conception. There’s a a lot larger inhabitants in Alaska, and some are nonetheless noticed in Russia.
Sea otters have been as soon as hunted for his or her fur, which is what result in their dramatic decline, and they’re now listed as a threatened species.
It’s unclear what drives 841’s surfboard-aggressive habits. Biologists famous that her mother had exhibited related behaviors, suggesting that 841 both discovered from her mom, inherited these tendencies or perhaps slightly of each.
Her mom had been fed within the wild by folks, which can have led to her consolation round people — in addition to her curiosity. Wildlife officers say it’s harmful to feed wild animals not solely due to issues about bodily contact, nevertheless it can also create this type of habits — which finally endangers the animal.
Morales, the federal spokeswoman, had suggestions for individuals who encounter 841 whereas browsing, boating or swimming:
If an otter approaches: Keep calm and instantly transfer away. Don’t attempt to {photograph}, contact, pet or feed the otter.
If the otter pursues you or someone you might be with: Wave your arms and get loud. Slap the water together with your paddle, oar or hand. Attempt splashing water towards the otter. If you happen to’re on a ship or board, bang on the vessel with a paddle or your hand.
If all none of that works and the otter persists or climbs aboard: Use a paddle or one other object to dam the otter, or push it off your craft. Morales famous that federal legal guidelines shield sea otters, and harassing or injuring a sea otter is against the law. Nonetheless, a delicate nudge is taken into account acceptable if it was employed as a last-ditch effort to guard your self and the otter from hurt. She mentioned you may also attempt to rock your kayak or board, making it an unstable platform. She mentioned folks mustn’t try to maneuver the otter with their arms, and not at all attempt to contact or pet the otter or pause to take footage. As quickly because the otter is off the vessel, depart.
In case you are out together with your canine and encounter an otter: By no means permit your canine to chase, harass, play with or in any other case work together with an otter, she mentioned. A canine can injure an otter, and an otter can injure or kill a canine. As well as, interactions can lead to illness transmission that would hurt the otter, your canine otherwise you.
She requested folks to acknowledge that posting movies and photographs of sea otter encounters solely promotes related wildlife interplay by others.
“Use care once you share,” she mentioned.
