On Tuesday afternoon, Mark Woodward had his camera trained on the same stretch of coastline off West Cliff Drive he’d been watching for months, as he religiously monitored the whereabouts of Otter 841, the viral sea otter that’s become notorious for stealing surfboards and evading wildlife officials.  

He spotted the unmistakable blue tag on her left flipper and knew it was her. But this time, Woodward was surprised to find a little ball of fluff right next to the famed otter. She cracked open a crab shell, munched for a while, and left some of the meat on the surface of the water. The tiny creature – her pup – started eating too. 

“When I realized what it was, I think I let out a little whoop of joy,” said Woodward, who runs the social media account Native Santa Cruz. “A tear came to my eye. I posted a few photos, and my social media has been blowing up since last night.” 

The sighting of Otter 841’s pup could explain some of her recent behavior, which was described by wildlife officials as “concerning” and “highly unusual” when they deemed her a public safety hazard in July. At the time, Kevin Connor, a spokesperson for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said Otter 841 was born in captivity but raised not to form positive relationships with people. Connor speculated that her loss of fear and assertive temperament could have been a learned behavior due to boaters and kayakers approaching and feeding her. 

Initially, the plan was for a team of experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Monterey Bay Aquarium to safely capture and relocate her to a wildlife facility, even going so far as to use a bait surfboard, but multiple attempts to do so proved unsuccessful. The Monterey Bay Aquarium told SFGATE it could not comment on any new developments, and was still waiting for confirmation from the USFWS that the photos were, in fact, of Otter 841. The USFWS did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment by time of publication. 

As the seemingly ungovernable Otter 841 and her pup continue to enchant the public, Woodward is warning people to keep their distance and avoid interacting with the animals, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and California state law. Roughly 3,000 sea otters live along California’s Central Coast.