A curious otter appeared to challenge a group of young surfers at Santa Cruz’s Steamer Lane, creating an unusual—and slightly tense—scene in the water.
The animal paddled toward the surfers in late September before climbing onto one of their boards.
A witness recorded the encounter and told ABC 7 that the otter seemed ready to confront the group. Still, the animal’s intentions remain impossible to know for certain.
As the situation escalated, one surfer moved toward the otter in an effort to drive it away, giving the group more space.
No one was hurt, but the incident adds to a series of recent and sometimes alarming encounters between people and marine mammals along the California coast.
Just weeks earlier, Santa Cruz paddle-boarder Heather Gray endured a frightening encounter with an aggressive sea lion that knocked her into the ocean, according to reports.
The attack happened at about 8 a.m. as Gray traveled between Capitola Wharf and Privates Beach near Pleasure Point.
“I was like, ‘What, what’s happening?’ It was like a horror movie,” Gray told KNTV.
The sea lion bit Gray on her arm, hand and feet before she managed to fend it off.
Footage recorded by Surfline captured the moment the animal struck and sent Gray tumbling from her paddleboard.
Among the most unsettling details, Gray said, was the sea lion grabbing her hair.
Once the attack ended, Gray climbed back onto her board and began making her way to shore. The sea lion reportedly followed her, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“We’re so used to seeing them get really comfortable with us, and I knew this wasn’t really normal,” Gray told KNTV.
A friend later drove Gray to an urgent-care facility, where she received tetanus and rabies vaccinations after being treated for the bites.
Gray said she immediately wondered whether the animal might have been sick. “I know that there’s a lot of sea lions that are sick right now, so my first thought was, ‘Oh my gosh, this was one of these sick sea lions,’” she told the station.
The Marine Mammal Center reported this year that sea lions and fur seals in the Monterey Bay region have been affected by domoic acid poisoning. Scientists have not yet determined why cases have increased.
According to the center, exposure to the toxin can lead to abnormal and unpredictable behavior in marine mammals.
“Domoic acid poisoning is caused by harmful algal blooms,” the center said. “The neurotoxin accumulates in small fish that are eaten by marine mammals including sea lions.”
