A man bathing in the Bay of San Francisco, received a serious hand injury after he was attacked by a sea lion.
This was reported in the fire Department of San Francisco.
The incident occurred yesterday afternoon, 14 December, near Aquatic Park.
It is unknown what would have ended the incident, if the victim did not see the people who were passing by on a sailboat. They pulled 56-year-old swimmer from the water and put a tourniquet – as it turned out, the sea lion was badly bitten by a bather.
«He said that it swam the sea lion, very close,» he told Fox10 Matthew Reiter, officer of the water police of San Francisco. «The man threw the animal in the water, but it didn’t work. Then the man tried screaming to get rid of a sea lion and he bit him on the hand.»
People with a sailboat immediately called the coast guard, the victim was taken to the hospital.
Dr. Claire Simeon, veterinarian marine mammal Center, told CBS SF Bay Area that such cases are extremely rare, but still occur. So, for the last three years in San Francisco were recorded 10 attacks on sea lions swimmers.
All of these people had not provoked the animal, said the vet. «In any case, it is necessary to keep a safe distance,» added Dr. Simeon.
