The tense encounter was caught on video by an onlooker, who noted that the animal appeared to be moving in for an attack, though the otter's exact intentions remain unclear.
A surfer at Steamer Lane says an otter bit her foot and then climbed onto her board, holding it hostage for roughly 20 minutes as rescuers rushed in.
"People come here, they spend their money at restaurants, coffee shops... And one of the biggest draws to people visiting here and staying here, even though with sales and rent going up a lot, is surfing in the ocean," says Shaun Burns with the Save the Waves Coalition.
Sea lions are cute, but what should you do if you encounter one in the water? Experts weigh in after a 9-year-old girl was bitten by a sea lion while surfing off Central California coast.
"The sea lion went under my instructor's leg and then it came up to me and bit me, and then I got dragged underwater," 9-year-old Corale Olsen said, describing the scary and painful moment she was attacked in the ocean.
Surf's up for an annual favorite on the Peninsula. Some very talented pets were competing Saturday in The World Dog Surfing Championships in Pacifica.