Sea Lion Wants To Take A Nibble Of Some California Diver

Sea lions may look cute and playful as they surf and snuggle, but don’t be fooled, because they can be aggressive too. Considered as rare, but sea lion attacks on people do happen. These marine animals are very defensive about their territory and experts advice people to stay at least 50 yards away from them for their own safety.

Chris Okamoto, an adventurous free-diver decided to explore the coast of Santa Barbara, California. He was using his GoPro camera to film the open ocean, when all of the sudden a raft of sea lions swam around him. At first, Chris thought they were just curious, as he had been in a similar situation in the past. This time was different though. One of the sea lions made several passes, and as it got close it rushed straight towards him with its mouth open! Luckily, Chris was not hurt, but was a bit shaken following the incident.

Since most of the attacks seem to have occurred to solo swimmers, experts advice people to swim in groups and be more careful. These sea mammals are not used to see people swimming in their area, so during mating season they get very protective and attack people that get too close to them.

Sea lions can swim at speed up to 30 mph so don’t underestimate their strength and will to hunt. They possess sharp canine teeth so they can grab food with ease. In other words, this diver was very lucky he reacted so quick.