Page 14 - IAV Digital Magazine #630

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Sea Otters Are Stealing Surfboards in California
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjoUWI44_7c
Santa Cruz, CA –
For the second sum- mer in a row, a gang of brazen sea otters has turned the breaks at Steamer Lane into a floating crime scene. Locals call her “Otter 963,” a five-year-old female with a rap sheet longer than the Mavericks swell. Her M.O.? Paddle up,
hop aboard an unat- tended board, and ride it like a furry Kelly Slater until the owner gives chase.
It started last June when surfer Jai Sharma left his 6’2” thruster unattended for thirty seconds to grab wax. He returned to find Otter 963 sprawled across the deck, cracking
clams on the traction pad. “She looked right at me, cracked another one, and just... floated away,” Sharma said. Video of the heist racked up 2.3 million views on TikTok.
Marine Mammal Center biologists say 963 and her crew learned the trick from watching humans.
Otters are tool-users; surfboards just hap- pen to be the shini- est new hammer. “They’re not aggres- sive,” says Dr. Maria Vasquez. “They’re opportunistic. A board is a stable raft, a lunch table, and a jungle gym.” Still, the thefts cost riders: one lost a $1,200 Channel Islands board when 963 rode it past the kelp and never came back.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife issued a hands-off advisory— otters are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Fines for harass- ment top $25,000. Surfers are improvis- ing: neon “OTTER BAIT” stickers, bungee leashes to kelp, even decoy pool noodles. None work. Otter 963 sim- ply adds the noodles to her hoard.
Locals have mixed feelings. “She’s a
legend,” says big- wave rider Mark “Mongo” Martinez. “But when she stole my 9’6” noserider, I cried actual tears.” Tourists love it; surf schools now adver- tise “Otter Encounter” pack- ages.
Last week, 963 upped the ante. She commandeered a tandem board with two riders still on it. The couple paddled for shore while she groomed her fur on the nose. “Best ride of my life,” the groom told reporters. “Five stars.”
Authorities are stumped. Relocation is off the table— otters return like furry boomerangs. The best defense? Never turn your back. As Sharma puts it, “In Santa Cruz, the line- up has a new apex predator, and she’s got better balance than half the grooms.”
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine