Two people have been injured by sea lions in the Mission Beach area of San Diego.
“I went to South Mission Point Park around 12:30 p.m. [Friday] I went to go snorkeling and was able to snorkel for 2-3 minutes. And at this time I was just floating looking at the fishes. Then I felt like what felt like a pinch on my leg,” Jessica Linares said.
Sea lions in San Diego
The details surrounding the incident and the perpetrator became clear.
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“Then it really hurt. I looked behind and there was the sea lion. We initially made eye contact, then he swam away, and I swam away and was able to make it to shore,” Linares said.
Linares received care for her wounds.
“I went to Kaiser and went to the emergency room, and they took great care of me there. Washed out my wound, numbed me up. I got five stitches. They wrapped my leg and I’m just trying to rest,” Linares said.
Hours after Linares’ incident, another person had a negative encounter with a sea lion, according to San Diego Lifeguards.
The second attack
A man in his 50s was swimming about 50 yards offshore when he was aggressively bitten by a sea lion Friday, according to San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Rick Strobel.
The victim was transported to a nearby hospital with multiple bite wounds in different areas of his body, officials said. Lifeguards described his injuries as non-life threatening.
Despite the recent attacks, marine biologists describe these attacks as rare.
“Negative interactions with human beings are really rare. They happen so infrequently that when they do, it makes the news like is the case right now,” UCSD marine-biology professor Dovi Kacev said.
Linares is expected to make a full recovery and she said she will continue to enjoy the beauty nature has to offer.
