Posted on 06/20/2023 1:57:17 PM PDT by nickcarraway
An otter with dreams of being a surf champion shocked Santa Cruz beach-goers when it swam right up to a group of surfers, picked out a board and went for a ride.
The incredibly anthropomorphic encounter happened on Sunday at Cowell Beach near the boardwalk. Mark Woodward, who goes by Native Santa Cruz on Twitter, posted photos and video of the moment. Woodward wrote that the otter sniffed around a number of boards before settling on its favorite, a blue one.
Advertisement “He was going from board to board and seemed calm and friendly even as he was a few feet from surfers,” he wrote on Twitter.
It’s possible this is the same otter who caught the recreational sports bug last year. Back in November, a female otter who was born in captivity was seen trying to bum a ride from a Santa Cruz surfer. That otter, who was four years old at the time, also picked out a blue surfboard as its preferred ride.
Otter checks out a surf board in Santa Cruz Mark Woodward / @Native Santa Cruz Otter checks out a surf board in Santa Cruz "The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has been keeping a watchful eye on the otter since the incident," Bay Nature wrote at the time. "A spokesperson for the agency said that while this sea otter’s behavior hasn’t yet warranted her removal from the wild, they did try to relocate her a little ahead of schedule to her wintering grounds down south, where there are far fewer surfers. That attempt, however, failed—the otter got away."
As cute as the encounters are, it’s important to give wild animals space. If they grow too accustomed to human contact, the ocean will no longer be safe for them and they may end up back in captivity. Only about 3,000 southern sea otters live off California's coast.
Otters 🦦 are just so cute.
“Eric Stratton, damn glad to meet you.”
I would crap my swim trunks if an otter jumped onto my board.
That means it is trying to get away from something in the deep with teeth.
Probably a shark hunting nearby.
Otters are little gangsters. I saw them climb on to a boat and raid the cooler. Others would walk into the restaurant and steal food.
Otters are cousins of Honey Badgers.
On my first day as a zookeeper, I was assigned to clean the small animal exhibits. When I got to the exhibit for the European Giant River Otters, the critters were very curious about the new guy in their area. I said, “You guys are really cute.” And I sat down. They were all over me, with one climbing up my shirt. I fed them Monkey Chow bars.
Later, my supervisor said “I forgot to tell you to watch out for the otters. They’re really dangerous.”
I played with the otters every day after that.
“I would crap my swim trunks if an otter jumped onto my board.
That means it is trying to get away from something in the deep with teeth.”
“He was going from board to board and seemed calm and friendly even as he was a few feet from surfers,”
... a reincarnated surfer ... ??
So he otter not have done that?
Please dont start with the puns or it’ll be otter chaos around here
During storms, sea lions would come up on the beach and into our yards exhausted.
And you live in Iowa. No wonder they are exhausted.
Last time I was in Santa Cruz, there were used condoms on the floor of this restaurant bathroom and the homos were everywhere.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.