You'll Never Look at Sea Otters the Same

Everyone has tripped into the rabbit hole of Youtube. Personally, I am prone to jumping face first into the downward spiral of the “Tube.” Most of time I resurface with a new obsession. Sometimes content as inspiring as Galen Hooks freestyle dance roulette, Steezy choreographers challenge, {The And}, The Cut, Jubilee, Ink Master clips, etc. There are the thoroughly amusing videos that keep you up until 3 in the morning such as The Office clips, Graham Norton interviews, compilation videos of fights from varying reality shows, Jerry Springer segments, Chapelle Show skits, and funniest moments from Insecure, On My Block, Oz, etc. Then there are the times you want to cry in the fetal position, while your eyes ache staring at your phone screen watching soldiers returning home surprising their loved ones, old Oprah Winfrey show tear-jerker interviews, and emotional classic scenes from General Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy, Girlfriends, etc. You might discover guilty pleasures you thought would disgust you like ear wax extraction videos and crows removing ticks from wallabies. And there is always the night of new movie trailers, that will entertain you until the sun starts peeking into your room.

I hope I have lulled you into a state of unassuming comfortability because what I am going to reveal to you has nothing to do with any of the types of videos I have just listed.

One night I saw a video with the title Rape Within the Sea Otter Community. I rolled my eyes instinctively. Automatically I thought people have too much time on their hands. Why say something so horrible about such a cute animal? Then my eyes landed on the name of the channel that uploaded the video. Is this really a news report? Could this be true? Is this worth reporting?

I clicked and shock froze me to my sheets.

The less than 2-minute-long video has an expert validating the horrifying title. Sea otters holding hands as they float along the body of water, they’re in, is an image we swoon over. They do it so they do not separate as they move along with the water. Nice enough. The image of the male sea otter gripping the female from behind is not going to be as endearing when you learn of their aggressive mating rituals, though. Male sea otters often bite the nose pad of the female otters or any animal of a similar size, latching on to the creature, sometimes resulting in tearing off the nose of said sea otter. If they can not find a female sea otter, they force themselves on baby seals. The baby seals occasionally die due to the violent encounter and some male sea otters have been documented to keep the deceased body of the baby seal and continue to rape the corpse. If that wasn’t atrocious enough, there is actually an area in Elkhorn Slough that has been designated “Boys Club” due to the large number of male sea otters. Elkhorn Slough has the highest sea otter population in California. Since there are so many more male sea otters than female, the male otters venture to other species. A slither of an explanation. When you think about it, there would be more female sea otters if they were not frequently killed because of the rape they experience from the male otters.

After being sickened by that 1 minute and 48 seconds of knowledge, my stomach started folding over itself as I scrolled down the column of related videos. Other examples of brutality from the wild animal community that I normally associate with the human species. Maybe it is the subconscious nature of Homo sapiens arrogance that led me to not consider that animals would do vicious acts for their own pleasure not survival.

I did not have to record what was seared into my brain that regrettable night, but I figured if I could not look at sea otters the same others shouldn’t be able to either. This is a really a tale about not giving in to the urge to surrender your sanity and nights’ rest to Youtube. Do not click on the video that repulses you. Do not even click the music video with that new song you love, by that underground artist you feel a special connection to. If you do, eventually you will be unable to find the surface and you will spiral into unproductivity for the rest of the day. That is the necessary knowledge I had to pass on. Avoid it. Just go to sleep.