Surfboard-Stealing Otter Is The Most Delightful Thing On The Internet

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Otter 841 may be pregnant. And she remains on the run, eluding captors who want to rehome her at an aquarium, according to the latest updates on the surfboard-stealing sea otter from Santa Cruz who is having a genuine “it” moment on the internet.

The mischievous 5-year-old sea otter was catapulted into the national spotlight after photos showed her wresting boards from surfers off the coast of Santa Cruz. Wildlife experts with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium are trying to capture her, saying her aggressive behavior poses a public safety risk.

She hasn’t bitten anyone. But on at least one occasion, 841 chewed the dickens out of a surfboard.

Otter 841 has eluded wildlife officials for weeks. In one of the latest attempts, they tried to trick her by baiting surfboards. She has hopped on several times in recent days but always dives back in the water when the team’s boat approaches.

She is living her best life.

“They can’t throw a net over her in the water. They can’t tranquilize her because of fear of her drowning. So they really need to get hands on her,” Mark Woodward, the Santa Cruz photographer whose photos on social media fueled the 841 love fest, told The Associated Press.

“The main issue is more just her ability to evade,” Jessica Fujii, who manages the sea otter program at her would-be Monterey Bay Aquarium home, told the AP. “Because this has been an ongoing effort, she is wary of those nets.”

When you know, you know, even if you’re a sea otter.

The sea weasel has been called an “outlaw” in the headlines and, worse, a “terrorist.” Her actions have been described as “nefarious.”

Her legions of fans have her thickly furred back, though. As far as they’re concerned, there’s more to love than fear about 841.

Is That The Middle Finger?

The sea otter had many fans at the moment she appeared to flip the bird.

“She is taunting them,” wrote Dustin Mulvaney, a professor of environmental studies at San José State University who posts regular Otter 841 updates on Twitter.

Well played, 841, well played, her fans said.

“All solidarity with the surfing otter!” said one who used the #stayfree hashtag.

“It’s her ocean,” added another.

And this:

“Otter 841 has been carrying this past week. Dogspeed.”

Sea otter tourism in Santa Cruz is becoming a real thing.

“Just leave ’em alone. Just let ’em have fun,” Jackie Rundell, who headed out to the bay to get a glimpse of 841 on Wednesday, told the AP. “Hasn’t bitten anybody. Roughs up the board. It’s like a dog with a chew, you know?”

Even other sea otters are lining up to watch 841 surfing, as shown in video posted by Mulvaney. She hangs pretty well, too.

‘California’s Cutest: Go Queenie!’

Wildlife officials aren’t sure what to make of it.

The otter’s behavior is highly unusual, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said in a statement last week, explaining that “aggressive behavior in female southern sea otters may be associated with hormonal surges or due to being fed by humans.”

Or it could be a sign 841 is pregnant, a wildlife service spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times.

“Hell yeah 841,” someone tweeted in response to the speculation, “you go girl.”

“Then she’s having far more fun than I thought,” someone else said. “Great! Why not? Still sending good vibes and lots of love to California’s cutest. Go Queenie!”

Otter 841 was born in captivity after her mom, the similarly sassy Otter 723, was captured and later determined to be unfit for the ocean because of her aggression. Her daughter, 841, was given a chance to live free outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium after she was weaned. The first year in the bay was uneventful, but reports of sea otter aggression started mounting up the following year, aquarium spokesperson Kevin Conner told KGO-TV in San Francisco.

“And at the time, it was not as escalated as it is now,” Conner said. “It was an otter, going up to people, being curious about people and not really demonstrating the fear response that you want to see a wild animal have for its own survival.

“And over time, efforts were taken to stop that behavior to deter that behavior. And ultimately, those weren't successful... So in the interest of the animal’s well-being and safety, and the interests of human safety, the decision was made to recapture 841. And that’s really where we are right now.”

‘Don’t I Have Every Reason To Bite Back?’

The San Francisco Chronicle gave voice to 841, writing on the otter’s behalf:

“As of this writing, there are no confirmed cases of me, that ‘aggressive sea otter,’ hurting anyone. Still, I’m being relentlessly hunted by state officials, as if I were a dangerous fugitive.”

The “true aggressors in this otter’s story,” the Chronicle’s Joe Mathews wrote, “are all too human. And I’m not just talking about the paparazzi who paddle out to take my photo.”

Southern sea otters, a threatened species with only about 3,000 left, play a fundamental role in maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems by preying on sea urchins that can multiply and eat their way through kelp forests both marine creatures share, wildlife officials said.

The population decline is “because of mass slaughter by fur traders in previous centuries,” Mathews wrote for the Chronicle.

“So, don’t I have every reason to bite back?” the otter asks through Mathews.

The otter’s fans again rushed to her defense. Instead of trying to capture 841 and sentence her to life in the aquarium, officials “otter” leave her alone.

“If no one's been bit,” someone said on Twitter, drawing on O.J. Simpson defense lawyer Johnny Cochran’s famous line, “you must acquit.”

After all this, shouldn’t 841 have a proper name? Give us your suggestions in the comments.

We suggest “Moxie.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting.