A 9-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after a sea lion attacked her off the coast of California. The startling incident happened at Asilomar State Beach. According to KSBW, Corale Olsen was participating in a surf camp with her brother and sister.
That's when a sea lion attacked her. She realized upon seeing the naimla that "something really bad is going to happen." Apparently, the animal gave her reasons to believe it was about to attack her. The animal ended up biting her on the leg and dragging her under the sea.
"It came up to me and then it bit me, and then I got dragged underwater," Corale explained. "It was pain, and then I was screaming. ...It hurt so bad."
Fortunately, she wasn't significantly injured in the attack. Surf instructor Alex De Marignac came to Corale's aid. He was able to get all of the other kids out of the water as well.
Sea Lion Attacks Girl
Unfortunately, the sea lion left her with small puncture wounds as well as bruising to the leg. She ended up at the local emergency room in need of first aid. Despite the incident, she doesn't plan to let that stop her from getting back in the water. "If something happens, that doesn't mean that you stop doing what you love," she explained.
Meanwhile, De Marignac says the sea lion may have attacked after mistaking the girl for danger.
"I think the rule of thumb is make sure to give animals their space," he said. "I think it's totally fine to be curious, but I'd say never get a better look by getting closer to the animal."
"These animals are reacting to the fact that they are sick," John Warner, CEO of Los Angeles' Marine Mammal Care Center, previously told the BBC. "They're disoriented, and most likely, most of them are having seizures, and so their senses are not all fully functional as they normally would be and they're acting out of fear."
