Footage of a young girl being grabbed and pulled into the water by a Sea Lion was captured over the long weekend near Vancouver.

 

 

Luckily the young girl’s grandfather was quick to literally jump to action and dive in after her.

 

Michael Fujiwara was the local who captured the video, he expanded on what happened in an interview with the CBC.

“It initially jumped up to the girl to read her, I guess, and then it came back up a second time, but this time grabbing the girl by the waist and dragging her down into the water. Her family were just in shock, they were pretty shaken up.”

 

 

Animal experts say it’s possible the Seal had seen the white of the girls dress as similar to the shiny underside of fish, and that it’s very rare for this type of thing to happen.

 

Andrew Trites, the director of UBC’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, said, “My first reaction to the video is just how stupid some people can be to not treat wildlife with proper respect,” he said. “This was a male California sea lion. They are huge animals. They are not circus performers. They’re not trained to be next to people.”

 

“The little girl has her back to the sea lion and it would appear that the sea lion sees part of her dress, thinks it’s food, reaches up, grabs at the food and pulls her in by the dress. But it wasn’t food of course.”

 

“You keep your distance. Watch the animals, but let wildlife be wildlife.”

 

Canada’s Marine Mammal Regulations, does say “no person shall disturb a marine mammal except when fishing.”

 

 

If you’d like to read more visit the CBC’s article.

-The Pepper & Dylan Show

Filed under: Canada, Vancouver