Before Otter 841 nabbed Central Coast surfboards, this SLO County otter stole local hearts
A wayward sea otter that’s been alternately tormenting and entrancing Santa Cruz surfers and kayakers is continuing to vex the wildlife officials who’ve been trying to capture her.
Sound familiar to those of us on this part of the Central Coast? More about that later.
The wildlife officials, who with the state Department of Fish and Game and Monterey Bay Aquarium have been tracking Otter 841 since 2021, took some “hazing” steps last September to discourage her from her developing habit of contacting people.
Now, the 5-year-old female Southern sea otter is at it again — this time making headlines as she nabs surfboards from unsuspecting victims.
The ongoing official efforts have been to protect Otter 841 and the humans who, increasingly, have been harassing the surfboard-snatching mammal and other otters along the Central Coast.
We two-legged mammals also may have helped to create the otter’s aberrant behavior, although it’s probably impossible to prove that.
“The exact cause for this sea otter’s behavior is unknown,” said Jess Fujii, who manages the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sea otter program. Fujii said “aggressive behavior in female southern sea otters may be associated with hormonal surges … or due to being fed by humans.”
Getting too close is also considered harassing the otter.
That selfie with the otter in the background, or a close-up photo you want to get of her on your cellphone that doesn’t have a good zoom function?
Awful moves.
Not only are they against the law, under the Endangered Species Act and other laws, it’s common sense, people.
According to a release from the Ventura office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the “concerning and unusual behaviors” being exhibited by Otter 841 include “repeatedly approaching surfers and kayakers recreating in the area.”
That’s a special, ongoing concern because “sea otters are naturally wary of people, but this individual has been aggressively approaching people and biting surfboards,” the release said. “Upon capture, the sea otter will undergo a health assessment and eventually be re-homed in a zoo or aquarium.”
Fish and Wildlife said euthanasia is not an option.
San Simeon had its own wayward otter years ago
The situation with Otter 841 may evoke some distant memories for Central Coast surfers or people who’ve lived on the North Coast for a while.
Two decades ago, a rogue otter in San Simeon with a similar story hit the news for being way too cozy with humans.
When rescuers found tiny otter No. 196-01 on the San Simeon Cove beach on Feb. 11, 2001, she was a week old and weighed three pounds.
After being rehabilitated at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and released back into the wild, she kept reaching out to people — unsafe behavior for her and her inadvertent playmates.
It didn’t go well, although her interactions with surfers and kayakers made her a minor celeb. She’d been trained to search for food in the pockets of the wetsuits of her handlers (the aquarium has since changed its training protocols to reduce direct contact between humans and otters).
But having learned that people could provide food, she apparently never unlearned it.
The otter would clamber up on surfboards or kayaks, and even reach into wetsuit pockets looking for a snack.
Dubbed Maggie by her human surfing pals, she was recaptured, again for the safety of all concerned. Fish and Wildlife authorized putting her on display in the aquarium’s famous two-story, cylindrical, kelp-forest tank.
She spent the rest of her life enchanting millions of thrilled visitors who stand open-jawed in front of the big tank, as have her otter companions and successors.
What was less obvious was that whenever Maggie wasn’t swimming, dodging, playing and eating in that exhibit out front, she became one of the aquarium Otter Recovery Program’s best, behind-the-scenes surrogate “mother superiors” for orphaned or rescued baby otters.
And, in an unusual move, the aquarium stretched its otter-naming policy of limiting those names to characters in John Steinbeck novels.
Because she had become so well known in the wild as Maggie, the officials allowed her to keep that name, rationalizing that the name “could” be derived from Margie, a fortuneteller in Steinbeck’s novel, “The Winter of Our Discontent.”
Why does Otter 841 continue dodging captors?
Meanwhile, the story currently playing out with Otter 841 is similar in many ways to Maggie’s.
Otter 841 was born five years ago and raised with her mother in captivity. Caretakers took measures to prevent her from associating humans with positive interactions.
In the wild, according to the Fish and Wildlife release, Otter 841 behaved herself, acting like a typical otter, for more than a year.
Then she began interacting with surfers, kayakers and paddleboarders.
Reports published as far away as London and Canada captured the public’s attention and built up affection for the mischievous mammal.
“She steals surfboards by the seashore. She’s a sea otter,” the New York Times proclaimed July 12. “How an ‘ungovernable’ otter became an internet sensation,” the Washington Post wrote July 24.
Otter 841’s fame has spread to merch mania, too, with t-shirts, mugs, an ice cream flavor and more showing up for sale online and in Santa Cruz itself.
The rest of the Otter 841’s saga is ongoing history.
“I know there’s folks out there that don’t want us to intervene with this animal, but again, our goal is to find that balance,” California Fish and Wildlife senior biologist Mike Harris told KSBW recently. “We want to take care of the animals and the natural resources, but also protect humans.” Harris lives in Morro Bay.
The behavior being exhibited by Otter 841 “isn’t totally unique to tagged animals,” Harris told The Tribune on Aug. 7. “We’ve had to deal with many wild animals with similar behavior.”
And, indeed throughout the decades, I’ve watched as Mike’s done just that, among his other otter-saving maneuvers.
For Otter 841, rescuers have been using “standard methods for capturing healthy wild sea otters.”
Those include “a clandestine underwater approach,” Fish and Wildlife said, but that has been ineffective so far because of “poor underwater visibility, the sea otter’s wariness of nets from previous capture attempts and the sea otter’s behavioral patterns varying from day to day.”
In fact, successful capture of Otter 841 could take days or even weeks, the release said.
“We are adapting other capture methods to this situation but must ensure the safety of both the sea otter and the people attempting capture, which (in combination with murky water) has limited our options and opportunities,” the agency concluded.
How to stay safe around ocean wildlife
Here are some handy hints from Fish and Wildlife about human manners around otters and other marine life:
· Be alert: Be aware of your surroundings and alert to nearby wildlife when recreating.
· Maintain a safe distance: If a sea otter notices you, you are likely too close and should back away.
· Keep at least 60 ft. (or five kayak lengths) away, passing by parallel rather than pointing directly at any animals and moving slowly but steadily past rather than stopping.
· Slow down: Take caution in areas where sea otters are known to be present. Watercraft should slow down around kelp forests, where sea otters often rest but can be difficult to see. Be aware that a sea otter may come up from underwater unexpectedly.
· Keep pets leashed: Keep pets on a leash on and around docks and harbors, and never allow interactions, even if the animals appear to be playing. Look for a designated pet beach as an alternative.
· Never feed sea otters: Feeding otters can cause them to become aggressive, which could result in their removal from the population and placement in an animal care facility.
From another section of the Central California coastline, where similar problems have surfaced and eventually been resolved, we can only wish the best of luck and good health to Otter 841 and those who want so much to protect her and the ill-advised humans who’ve been harassing her and her kinfolk.
