Wildlife officials have been trying - and failing - to capture a wayward sea otter that appeared in a viral video attempting to wrestle a surfboard away from a surfer last week off the coast of Santa Cruz, California.

The five-year-old female otter has shown aggression toward people for several weeks and poses a public safety risk, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement.

The animal, which wildlife officials named sea otter 841, has a radio transmitter that officials are monitoring to find and capture her, but so far the otter has evaded capture.