A sea otter in Santa Cruz, California, is known for harassing surfers and stealing their surfboards.

The last confirmed sighting of the marine mammal in question, known as Otter 841, was in May 2024. However, surfers reported multiple otter-related incidents in October 2025, suggesting she might be ...

Two years after Otter 841 menaced wave riders near Santa Cruz, there have been new encounters between the furry marine mammals and surfers. By Annie Roth Annie Roth lives in Santa Cruz, Calif., wrote ...

An aggressive sea otter in Santa Cruz’s famous Steamer Lane is accused of stealing a surfer’s board and prompting an ...

A wild moment off the California coast shows a sea otter grappling with a horn shark—and the internet can’t get enough. What looks playful at first may actually be a rare predation attempt caught on ...

Stealing surfboards, nipping feet, even chasing down surfers: “Our local sea otters—or possibly just one—are getting feisty again,” California photographer Mark Woodward tells Smithsonian magazine via ...

On a blue-sky afternoon, kayakers paddle past dozens of sea lions lolling in the sun and make a beeline toward the sea otters lounging on beds of eel grass at Elkhorn Slough on California’s central ...

SANTA CRUZ — When a colleague passed the photo along to sea otter expert Gena Bentall, she thought it was fake. “The first thing I said was ‘That is 100% AI (artificial intelligence),” Bentall said ...

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — Santa Cruz’s iconic surf spot, Steamer Lane below West Cliff Drive, poses several challenges for surfers. After jumping off a cliff and plunging into the chilly ocean, ...

In Alaska, a state brimming with iconic wildlife — from grizzly bears to king salmon, humpback whales to harbor seals — the charismatic, densely coated sea otter stands out as perhaps the state’s most ...