Think Beach Boys in Surfin’ USA on the shores of Santa Cruz. An otter with dreams of being a surf champion surprised and shocked Santa Cruz beach goers when he swam right up to a group of surfers, picked out a board and went for a ride.
Can you imagine if you were out surfing and a Surfin’ Sea Otter climbed aboard your surfboard and left you “in the dust” or perhaps a better term would be leaving you “in the surf” – and without your board!
Surfer Girl is known as “841”, a 5-year old female, who has been taking bites out of surf boards recently with the surfer still on it. A bit intimidating for a surfer to say the least. We love our sea otters, but they have very big, sharp teeth to crunch on the sea urchins and abalone they love so much – so take care out there.
Surfer Girl 841 was born in captivity. Her mother had been removed from the wild because of her aggressive behavior toward people as a result of being fed by the public. An absolute No, No. When it turned out the otter was pregnant, 841 was born. She was raised at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and then tagged and released after being deemed ready to go back to the wild. Whoops!
There is a team of trained experts trying to catch Surfer Girl, and then she will be returned to the Monterey Bay Aquarium who will find a home for her. Unfortunately, once that happens, her surfing days will be over. However, so far she has alluded capture. One sharp cookie she is!
As a guide at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I get some inside scoop about their sea otter program. I’m sure many of you have seen our sea otters at the Aquarium who have names and personally interact with humans. These sea otters are considered non-releasable, so they are allowed human contact. When sea otters are rescued, the hope is always to return them to the wild and the care givers wear “hazmat suits of sort” (think like an astronaut outfit) so the otter won’t identify with a human. They also are given numbers and not names, to further keep them at arms length.
The story isn’t over . . . can’t wait for the next installment on this saga.
Wait, is she laughing at us?