Santa Cruz Beach-Goers Left Shocked After a Strange Encounter With Surfing Otter

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The surfing community of Santa Cruz, California celebrates the novel Juneteenth Festival in a special manner. Every year since the federal holiday was declared in 2021, locals organize a surf-out. On the day, the Cowell Beach in Monterey Bay witnesses several surfers breaking out their boards, and swarming to the sea in groups. However, this year's annual paddle-out took a bit of an interesting turn as an otter with dreams of being a surf champion shocked Santa Cruz beach-goers. [{ "selector": ".sczbw-a", "duration": "500ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "500ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "opacity": 0}, {"offset": 1, "opacity": "1"} ] }, { "selector": ".jeofk-a", "duration": "500ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "0ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "transform": "translateY(-94px)", "opacity": "1"}, {"offset": 1, "transform": "translateY(0)", "opacity": "1"} ] }, { "selector": ".bligx-a", "duration": "500ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "0ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "transform": "translateX(calc(360px - 321px))", "opacity": "1"}, {"offset": 1, "transform": "translateX(0)", "opacity": "1"} ] }]

The otter swam right up to a group of surfers, picked out a board and went for a ride. The incredibly anthropomorphic encounter was captured by Mark Woodward, who goes by Native Santa Cruz.

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Posting photos and video of the moment on Twitter, Native Santa Cruz wrote that the otter sniffed around a number of boards before settling on its favorite, a blue one. It's possible this is the same otter who caught the recreational sports bug last year.

Sea otter that likes blue surf boards

Back in November, a female otter who was born in captivity was seen trying to bum a ride from a Santa Cruz surfer. That otter, who was four years old at the time, also picked out a blue surfboard as its preferred ride.

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