Posted by Jon Davies on February 27, 2001 at 23:26:41:
In Reply to: Re: Sea Lion attacks continue unabated at Santa Cruz!!! posted by DMU on February 27, 2001 at 13:34:35:
I was out at SBI last year and, as usual, the water was thick with sealions. They buzzed us, blew bubbles and did the usual acrobatics and everyone enjoyed the show for the first few dives. But toward the end of the day the 'lions became a little passé and we started looking for other cool stuff. All of a sudden, one or more of the sealions started nipping divers on the top of the head, almost like a dog play bites. It happened to me and I remember feeling teeth through my hood (although it left no marks on the hood or my scalp).
It was almost as if they were annoyed that we weren't getting any attention. I hestitate to attribute such a level of premeditation to a wild animal, albeit a relatively intelligent one. Perhaps it was territorial, perhaps there were pups nearby, perhaps they were hungry (!)
But whatever the cause, we all decided to get the hell out before they really got mad!