The Tseshaht First Nation on Vancouver Island has issued a warning to people planning to swim in the Somass River after a young boy was attacked by a river otter.

Len Watts is the 10-year-old's father; he said nobody in his family has ever heard of an aggressive otter in the river before this year.

"We always bring our kids swimming there," he said of the area on the west side of Port Alberni along Highway 4, at Riverbend Bridge.

While Watts and his family noticed a few small minks on the edge of the river, they didn't see the otter in the water until it was heading quickly towards his son.

"All of a sudden it popped up about, I don't know, 10 feet in front of him and then just looked at him," Watts explained. "Looked at him for a second and just went and tried to jump right on him."

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