A paddleboarder was knocked into the water and bitten multiple times by a sea lion near Santa Cruz Tuesday morning amid a spike in sea lions suffering from domoic acid poisoning.
Heather Gray was paddling between Capitola Wharf and Privates Beach around 8 am Tuesday when she saw the sea lion rapidly approaching her board, as the Chronicle reports.
She told her friend Lee Solomon of Beyond Weather that she noticed the sea lion was coming toward her abnormally quickly, noting that it almost appeared like it was running. Gray initially thought it might jump onto the board, but instead it swam underneath and knocked her into the water.
“I was like what's happening?” Gray said, speaking NBC Bay Area. “It was like a horror movie.”
Gray said once she was in the water, the animal grabbed her by the hair and pulled on her head before biting her hand and later attempting to go after her feet. She was eventually able to get her paddleboard upright and escape toward shore, with the sea lion following her for part of the way.
A Surfline camera captured the moment the sea lion knocked her off her board, which is included in Solomon’s reel.
Gray said the encounter went on for several minutes. According to the Chronicle, the animal bit her hand, forearm, and upper arm, with its teeth puncturing her wetsuit and skin. She said she tried hitting and pushing it away with her paddle, but it continued coming after her.
“It wasn’t just one curious bite, and left — it just kept going and going,” Gray told the Chronicle.
Gray reportedly went to an urgent care clinic, where she was treated for her injuries, given antibiotics and a tetanus shot, and later received rabies shots.
She said she has been paddling waters in the area for decades and regularly sees sea lions and other marine life, but she’s never experienced anything like this.
The Marine Mammal Center said sea lion attacks are highly unusual, and there’s no way to determine what caused this animal to behave aggressively because it was not captured or examined.
The incident comes as California is seeing a spike in sea lions suffering from domoic acid poisoning, a condition caused by toxins produced by algae that accumulate in fish and shellfish, which can cause disorientation, seizures, and death.
Giancarlo Rulli, a spokesperson for the Marine Mammal Center, said animals can approach people for a number of reasons, including illness, injury, curiosity, territorial behavior, or pursuit of food.
“Some of these animals may be sick or injured, others may be curious, others pursuing nearby food resources,” Rulli said.
The Chronicle reports that the center received another report from the same general area Tuesday, involving a surfer who had a close encounter with a marine mammal off 38th Avenue in Santa Cruz. It was unclear whether that person was bitten.
Researchers are investigating what may be behind the increase in sick sea lions, including recent warmer-than-average ocean temperatures.
Despite the attack, Gray told NBC Bay Area she plans to return to the water, though she wants the current domoic acid and red tide problems to subside first.
The Marine Mammal Center advises swimmers, surfers, and paddleboarders to keep their distance from marine mammals and calmly leave the water if an animal approaches.
Related: Sea Lion Pup Found Wandering Streets In Outer Sunset Returns to the Wild Better Nourished
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