Every year, people from around the world flock to Monterey Bay for up close and personal views of the marine life in the waters off California’s central coast.
Usually, that involves a day trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium or booking an outing on a dive boat. I lived and dove there for years and sea lions would routinely come up and blow bubbles in my face. A harbor seal once even tried to pry the fins off my feet! That won’t happen when you’re kayaking, but these wily pinnipeds certainly have a way of invading your personal space.
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Last week, a woman and her friend were kayaking out near Moss Landing when a curious sea otter popped up to see what they were up to. Not much, as it turned out, so he cruises around and flips over on his back to do some idle grooming.
“Hey buddy,” she calls softly.
It was just meant to be a friendly greeting, nothing more, nothing less. But you know how stuff like that can be misinterpreted.
Well, if you insist.
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“Oh my god. Oh my god. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…” the young kayaker rambles.
He hauls his furry butt aboard, wiggles around until he’s reached maximum comfort levels, then just sits there on the bow like a hood ornament. The woman’s dad, Bob Resnik, posted the video on his Facebook page, saying his daughter had picked up a “freeloader,” but maybe something else is going on here. Maybe otters, like humans, need to see the world from a different perspective every once in a while.
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“Excuse me? Excuse me, but you’re…” But by this point, the woman’s laughing so hard and still in such a state of shock that she can’t even finish. She and her friend can only watch as the otter shakes water off his coat and rubs his face, completely oblivious that he’s providing these delighted kayakers with a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
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Hmmm, there’s always something going on down where he’s from (cue “Under the Sea“). Up here? Yeah, kinda boring.
Except… what’s this?
“Ah-ah, those are my shoes!” the woman cries in alarm. “No! Those are my shoes. Nonononono…” The funniest part is she treats the little guy like he’s a puppy!
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He throws the shoe back in the kayak and glares at her over his shoulder.
Watch the full, hilarious encounter down below and share to spread this incredible encounter with other animal lovers!
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