LONG BEACH, CA —A teenager was bitten by a sea lion Sunday afternoon while swimming in Long Beach, according to city fire officials.
The attack happened around noon while the girl was taking part in tryouts for Long Beach’s junior lifeguard cadet program just west of Junipero Beach.
“Out of nowhere, I feel something biting my arm over and over again,” 15-year-old Phoebe Beltran said in a video interview with KTLA. “All I’m thinking is ‘please don’t be a shark, please don’t take off my arm, please don’t kill me.'”
Long Beach Fire Department Capt. Jack Crabtree said about a dozen junior lifeguard candidates were swimming about 25 yards off the shore when lifeguards noticed the sea lion acting “aggressive” and biting the girl.
“Lifeguards immediately went out to meet the swimmer and assist in bringing her back,” Crabtree said. “The sea lion just left.”
The teen was taken by Long Beach Fire Department personnel to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Crabtree added. Video from KTLA shows Beltran with several bites and scratches along her arm.
It’s unclear why the sea lion was acting aggressively. However, experts have reported that sea lions have been falling ill to poisonous algae and becoming “feral,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Fire officials say lifeguard and marine safety personnel conduct an extensive search of the area where tryouts will take place to ensure candidates don’t come in contact with sea life.
“This is the first (lifeguards) can recall an incident like this happening,” Crabtree said.
The junior lifeguard tryouts, meanwhile, have been postponed to a later date that has yet to be announced, Crabtree said.
