Crystal Finn. Kristina Bumphrey/Shutterstock
Succession alum Crystal Finn revealed that she was attacked by a group of otters during a recent trip to Northern California.
“I felt something on my backside and on my leg,” Finn told the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, August 16, of the harrowing incident. “I started looking around and yelling out and [the otters] popped up right in front of me. Then they dove down and started going at me again.”
Finn was swimming in the Feather River near the Plumas National Forest back in July. After diving off a boulder, the actress felt the first bite but hadn’t seen any wildlife before entering the water. Then three otters appeared, which she estimated were about six inches away. As she made her way back towards the shore, the otters “dove back down” and began biting her again.
“I could see the bites on my legs and knew I had been bitten on my butt — that one was the worst, but I couldn’t see it,” Finn recalled to the outlet. “The bites really hurt.”
While otter attacks are typically rare, they seem to be appearing more often. Local wildlife photographer Mark Woodward told ABC 7 News in July that he’s seen the critters become increasingly aggressive. “I have photographed a lot of otters over the years, I have never seen anything like this,” he stated.
While Finn was unsure what prompted the attack, she theorized it might have been a mother otter trying to protect her babies. Despite not seeing the creatures beforehand, Finn isn’t sure if she would have considered them to be dangerous if she had spotted them.
“If I had seen them, I don’t think it would have given me pause,” she said. “I would have thought, ‘Oh those cute river otters.’ ”
Finn later went to the Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, California, to treat her injuries. While she was there, she learned of another recent otter attack in the area. She told the outlet on Thursday that she was just grateful her daughter wasn’t in the water with her at the time, adding that the incident “would have been a lot worse.”
Finn is most well-known for her portrayl of Lauren Pawson on the HBO hit Succession.
She also snagged roles in several other TV series including The Tick, Staging Film and My America in addition to taking the stage in Broadway’s Birthday Candles alongside Debra Messing. Coming up, she will appear in the Pamela Adlon Project which also stars Michelle Buteau, Oliver Platt, Hasan Minhaj and others.
