I used to regularly go canoeing on the James river in Virginia
and there were many fresh water river otters in there.
I became 'friends' with some of them.
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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.
That was good.
I don’t live on the beach anymore, they’ll never find me here, or wake me up with their loud bellowing.
What is more amazing is how one surfer in Santa Cruz was not wearing a wet suit. The water is freezing there.
First time I had an ad pop up in the middle of a video for the post. Not only started playing but then went to full screen. Strange since the government wants to control everything the FCC let the internet degrade into an advertisers’ and scammers’ paradise.
Gnarly!
At the airport in Kodiak, Alaska there is an exhibit where one can feel an otter pelt. It is the densest fur on earth. They can have up to 1,000,000 hairs per square inch. I would LOVE to have a pair of sea otter fur underpants LOL.
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Otters bite.
Viciously!
"And then it bit me..." Sung to the tune of "And then he kissed me"
That shark bit that seals ass whole off!!!
cmon cmon cmon cmon
cmon cmon cmon
cmon cmon cmon cmon
“First time I had an ad pop up in the middle of a video for the post.”
I tried to watch it twice and the stinking ad popped up both times and wouldn’t let me see the full video.
>or wake me up with their loud bellowing.
Not to mention the smell.
sigh.....
Shocked? Have these guys fine surfing before?. I had seals and otters try to climb up on my longboard When I lived at Moss Landing.
Too cute by half!
The average animal is better than the average human IMHO and personal experience. I include myself in that statement.
GMAFB
This is a case where it was a Sea Otter that had become habituated to human interaction. This one is an unusual case.
If someone encounters a wild sea creature that deliberately gets close to them should be concerned. Granted, dolphins, whales, and even otters are more inclined to not be afraid by default due to their intelligence and nature, but that isn’t the usual case.
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