iStockphoto / Tonic R
The sea lions around La Jolla, California know they are in charge. It’s their land. They own the beaches. And as an extension, they own the water around the beaches and they will defend their territory from invaders (anyone at the beach).
After seeing this clip below, I recalled an incident two years ago where two large sea lions in La Jolla ran amok at the beach and terrified swimmers. The beaches are close quarters there with people commonly getting way too close to the massive sea lions (up to 1,000 pounds) and incidents are bound to happen if people don’t exercise caution.
And, well, it happened again. This time, TikTok user @lifelaurensway shared a video back at the end of June showing a particularly massive sea lion charging people in the water, including kids who are slower to get out of the way. Thankfully, nobody appears to have sustained injuries:
Based on this footage, it appears as if the angry sea lion was protecting its baby. It can be seen swimming around with the much smaller sea lion who hops up on the rocks and that’s around the time the larger one shows extreme territorial behavior and attacking adults and kids alike in the shallows.
It is also incredible how there are constant passersby on the sidewalk watching the action or completely oblivious to it, as a massive creature chases down people on the beach who should 100% be aware that they are way too close. This isn’t dissimilar from Bison attacks in Yellowstone, if we’re being honest. People know they are too close but choose to risk their safety anyway.
And to the people that got out of the way from the charging adult sea lion and dove deeper into the water, was the plan there? Was it to try and out-swim the aquatic mammal? Why not book it as fast as humanly possible back to the beach where you could at least beat it in a foot race?