Long Beach has postponed tryouts for its Junior Lifeguards program after a sea lion bit a teenage girl who was participating in a swimming trial.
The attack happened on March 30 while she and a group of about a dozen cadets between 15 and 17 years old were trying out for the program, according to Long Beach Fire Department Capt. Jack Crabtree.
Crabtree said the group was swimming about 25 yards from shore in front of the Long Beach Lifeguard Headquarters at 2100 Ocean Boulevard when the sea lion swam up to the girl and bit her in the arm.
“It was an aggressive sea lion,” Crabtree said.
Lifeguards, who were stationed all along the swimming route, saw what was happening and immediately rushed to help the girl, according to Crabtree, and a lifeguard watercraft stationed nearby helped tow the other teenagers quickly to shore. After the attack, the sea lion swam off, according to Crabtree.
In an interview with KTLA, the girl said she was terrified, thinking she was being attacked by a shark.
Thankfully, she told the TV station, she escaped with only bites and scratches on her arm and hand.
Crabtree said she was taken to a local hospital to treat the wounds.
It’s uncommon for sea lions to approach or attack swimmers, but beachgoers lately have been reporting erratic and aggressive behavior from the animals amid a toxic algae bloom that experts say is poisoning them across the Southern California coastline.
The bloom has caused domoic acid — a neurotoxin produced by the algae — to build up in small fish that are then eaten by the sea lions, according to the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, which has been inundated by reports of sick, and even dying, animals.
It’s impossible to predict how long the outbreak will last, according to the center.
Crabtree said, for now, all Junior Lifeguard trials have been postponed. When they’re rescheduled, lifeguards will be closely monitoring the courses — as they always do — to make sure participants are safe from sea life, tides and anything else the ocean can throw at them.