Video: Sea lion charges toward beachgoers at San Diego cove
It happened at La Jolla Cove on Sunday. Video recorded by Japhet Perez Estrada shows the territorial sea lions lunging at a group of people gathered along the shore.
Sea lion charges toward beachgoers at San Diego cove
Beachgoers were seen fleeing as a sea lion charged toward them at La Jolla Cove in San Diego, California, on July 23, 2023.
SAN DIEGO – Beachgoers were sent fleeing in a San Diego, California, cove after a sea lion charged toward them.
It happened at La Jolla Cove on Sunday. Video recorded by Japhet Perez Estrada showed the territorial sea lion lunging at a group of people gathered along the shore.
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Beachgoers were seen fleeing as a sea lion charged toward them at La Jolla Cove in San Diego, California, on July 23.
(Japhet Perez Estrada via Storyful)
In the video, you can hear a man on a loudspeaker warning those around the animal to "give that large male sea lion plenty of room" as "they have bit people, and they’re protected animals."
Estrada, who is from the area, said on Instagram that the sea lion didn’t charge at him as he "wasn’t bothering (them) like the tourists who were on the beach."
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"I feel like people should educate themselves a little bit about the marine life here, what to do, what not to do," he told FOX 5 in San Diego. "Respect the sea lions. Don't touch them. Don't get in their space."
Estrada said he swims the cove every day and shot the video as he was getting out of the water.
"I looked at my left, and I see this big sea lion line just come out of the water charging, and that's when it turned to chaos," he said. "And everyone was screaming and running around."
Male California sea lions use sound to defend their territory and also bark on land and underwater to fend off intruders, according to the Ocean Conservancy.