ILLUSTRATION: This sea otter from the aquarium is completely innocent after the attacks in Santa Cruz. Photo: MARY SCHWALM / AP / NTB
A female sea otter thinks enough is enough, and “surf’s up” in Santa Cruz, California. Now the authorities have issued a warning.
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Idyllic Santa Cruz is known as a place surfers make a pilgrimage to in California. Now, however, it may seem that one of the city’s creatures at sea has grown tired of people on boards.
The wildlife authorities in the city have sent out a warning against a five-year-old female sea otter, which has been named Oter 841.
According to AFP, this sea otter has been attacking surfers for several weeks, and “stealing” surfboards. On Monday, a video of such an attack received a lot of attention on social media.
It shows the otter simply hijacking a surfboard and making the surfer “surrender” himself and the board.
SURF PARADISE: Sunrise in the surf town of Santa Cruz in California. Photo: Øystein David Johansen/VG
In the message from the wildlife authorities, it becomes known that professionals will now try to catch the aggressive anti-surfer and find another home for her.
Sea otters are cute, but also very intelligent – and aggressive. They are known as the only marine mammal that uses “tools” when hunting for food.
The sea otter lies on its back and crushes shells with stones.
The behavior of the female sea otter is unusual, according to researchers AFP has spoken to.
New York Times writes that encounters between humans and sea otters are rare because the sea otters are afraid of humans and try to avoid us.
The reason why this five-year-old approaches people may be due to hormonal changes due to pregnancy, believes researcher Tim Tinker. Or it may have been fed or repeatedly approached by humans.
841 has previously lived at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Before she was set free in the sea, care was taken to ensure that the sea otter would not have positive associations with humans, but it seems to have happened nonetheless. The researchers cannot fully explain why.
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Published: 13.07.23 at 03:34
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2023-07-13 01:34:13
#Sea #otters #terrorize #surfers
