Chaotic moment sea lion charges at California beachgoers

By Emma Saletta For Dailymail.Com 15:10 03 Jul 2024, updated 15:44 03 Jul 2024

California beachgoers were left screaming and crying after a protective sea lion charged at them.

Lauren Bertrand was visiting La Jolla Cove in San Diego on June 23 when she captured the footage of the angry sea lion.

Bertrand's video first went viral on TikTok last month before resurfacing on YouTube this week.

Prior to its attack on beachgoers, the marine mammal was swimming around the area with its babies, whom Bertrand also caught a glimpse of.

The sea lion nearly came face to face with one swimmer before it swam away, leaving the humans unhurt. 

Bertrand took the video while she was in a sitting area near the lifeguard station.

She spotted the sea lion and claimed that it 'looked like a rock.' 

Bertrand and an unidentified onlooker then saw the swimming pups and were shocked to see how big they were.

'There goes your shot,' said the onlooker after the sea lion waddled to shore.

Other bystanders in the sitting area couldn't stop staring at the animal, with beachgoers on the sand taking pictures on their phones.

The marine mammal rushed into the water and spooked a child who fell over.

She and another young girl who was close to the sea lion ran away from the scene while a group of swimmers just watched the animal leave.

This incident comes three months after an Instagram user known as @salissav captured a video of a man and his two young children getting dangerously close to a sea lion at La Jolla Cove.

'This was only the biggest idiot. Even after the sea lion made an aggressive move towards his child, he continued trying to get more photos,' the Instagram user wrote in the video description.

'If you are wondering why I did not intervene, I was located too far from this person for him to hear me over the noise of the ocean, seabirds, and other people.'

Another sea lion charging incident in La Jolla Cove was captured on video last year by Japhet Perez Estrada.

The sea lion rushed out of the water and charged at tourists who were close to the shoreline.

'People get bit here every summer, people get charged every summer, and for us locals, it's annoying because we like and respect the wildlife here,' said Perez at the time.

'I understand their excitement, and they want to get close, but it's nature. You got to give a distance.' 

Human interactions with sea lions and their pups could lead to aggressive behavior from the adult sea mammals, according to the city of San Diego's website.

These interactions with a mom and her pups 'could result in injury or abandonment of sea lion offspring.'

Pup season usually occurs from early May to late October and sea lions use that time to bond, nurse, and teach their babies how to swim.

Sea lions frequent California beaches, and the signs at the locations warn visitors not to approach them if they spot one.

The signs also indicate that sea lions bite, attack when feeling agitated, and note that it is illegal to harass them.