Calif. Surfers Warned About Aggressive Otter After Animal Is Filmed Attacking Surfboards — Watch!

Surfers should be careful of a hostile sea otter attacking people in the waters near West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz.

According to Los Angeles Times, the female otter has been harassing surfers and trying to steal boards since mid-June.

A video captured by Hefti Brunold on Sunday shows how the aggressive 5-year-old creature attacks. In the clip, the otter bites, thrashes, and claws at an occupied surfboard while the surfer tries to paddle away with the board.

"In the past five days now, there's been three more incidents of it," Native Santa Cruz photographer Mark Woodward told ABC 7 News. "And they've all been much more aggressive. I have photographed a lot of otters over the years; I have never seen anything like this."

"It was a true wrestling match over this surfboard," Woodward told the outlet about the recent otter attack incident caught on tape. "And the person finally got it away, and it was damaged. Basically, the board was destroyed."

Joon Lee, a 40-year-old software engineer at Apple, shared his experience encountering the otter with the L.A. Times.

"I was scared. I was trying to swim away, but before I was able to get far, it bit my leash," Lee said of when the otter attacked him, describing the cord surfers wear around their ankles. "So I panicked."

In response to the observed rise in otter attacks, signs have been posted along Santa Cruz's shoreline to inform visitors about the upset animal. Woodward posted a shot of one of the signs on Twitter.

"Enter the water at your own risk! I was talking with a reporter when a City employee walked up and posted this sign," the photographer captioned the post.

The marine mammal — known as Otter 841 — was seen attempting to steal at least three other surfboards in the Santa Cruz area over the weekend, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), UPI reported.

Otter 841 is a California sea otter — an endangered species – born in captivity at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and then released into the wild after she was weaned, according to the outlet. Upon her release, Otter 841 was tagged so she could be monitored.

By 2021, officials were receiving reports that the otter was climbing onto kayaks and surfboards. The animal has escalated to more aggressive behavior over the past few years.

CDFW officials intend to catch the otter and bring her to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a veterinary check. After the otter is secured, she will stay at the aquarium until a more permanent home is found.

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"She's been quite talented at evading us," Jessica Fujii, the sea otter program manager at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, told The New York Times about CDFW and the aquarium's apprehension efforts thus far.

Fujii told the Los Angeles Times that Otter 841's behavior differs from other aggressive otter cases the aquarium has seen.

"I would not characterize this as a common behavior for sea otters. We have seen similar instances, you know, over the last several decades ... but the persistence and pattern of this particular otter is fairly unique," she said.