‘Possessed’ sea lions are attacking swimmers as man has close-call with ‘demon’

Swimmers on California beaches have been attacked by rabid sea lions after the creatures feasted on poisoned fish – one victim said the sea lion that bit him looked ‘possessed’

Sick sea lions have been attacking beachgoers on a normally peaceful stretch of coastline after being subjected to a dangerous toxin.

Scores of the animal, one described as “possessed”, have been recorded as sick and incidents of the creature attacking humans on the beaches of Southern California have been recorded. The sealions have been suffering from a neurological condition known as domoic acid toxicosis.

This occurs due to a bloom of harmful algae, which has been seen off the California coast for four years in a row. Local officials are concerned its appearance could now be an annual event and it is reported to have started much earlier this year, spanning over 370 miles of coastline.

The toxins build up in smaller fish, which are then eaten by sea lions in largue quantities, leading them to get sick over time.

“It felt like I was being hunted,” RJ LaMendola told the BBC, adding the troubled sea creature looked “possessed”. It was “feral, almost demonic”, he also said of the attack that left him bleeding and needing hospital treatment.

Another attack involved teen Phoebe Beltran, who was training to become a lifeguard in Long Beach when she was bitten over and over again.

“I was just so scared, so shocked, but I still felt the immense pain on my arms, like, over and over again,” the teen, 15, said according to local media reports.

Sea lions are not usually aggressive towards people and in this case are “ reacting to the fact that they are sick,” explained John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Centre in Los Angeles, which has been inundated with sick creatures.

Warner said 195 sea lions had been admitted to the centre from February 20 until the end of March, compared to 50 in the same period last year.

“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 and they’re acting out of fear,” he said.

He continued: “These are still the same charismatic, really fun-to-watch expert cuddle puddlers that we see along the coast all the time,” Mr Warner said. “We need to remember they are wild animals. They can be unpredictable even in normal circumstances.”

Most sea lions recover after treatment, but some have to be put down and helpers are running out of the cash and supplies they need for treatment.

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