April 16, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

A seal attacked and wounded a bathing woman

In Hawaii, a 60-year-old woman was attacked by a fur seal while swimming.

The woman was injured while swimming when a female seal attacked her, apparently seeing the swimmer as a threat to her cub. According to information Hawaii News Now, at about eight in the morning on the beach of Cayman, a monk seal attacked a lady passing by. The incident fell into the lenses of surveillance cameras and filmed on the phones of numerous witnesses-vacationers. According to the records, it was possible to reconstruct the picture of what happened.

A mother seal named Rocky was looking for her cub and “barked”. At that moment, she saw the swimmer and swam after her. The woman tried to distance herself, but did not have time, as a result, together with the animal, she went under water. There was no one in the ocean at that moment. But a minute later a canoe arrived, thanks to which tragedy was avoided.

“If it wasn’t for the guy on the kayak who came to save her, she would have just been eaten. I guess it was the protection of the cub, the maternal instinct, ”the witness told Hawaii News Now.

The victim was hospitalized with lacerations on her face, back and arm. The woman said that she could not sleep at night, she was tormented by nightmares after what had happened. “Every time I close my eyes,” she said, “I see the gaping mouth of a seal.”

Rocky gave birth about two weeks ago in the area, Hawaii Marine Animal Response reported on social media. The Marine Animal Welfare Organization says: “We continue to warn people not to swim in this area as there is a mother monk seal with her calf. Swimmers must stay at least 150 feet away from female seals with newborn pups.”

Along the coastline were placed signs “Caution! Seals! Don’t come near!” and a tape limiting part of the beach. None of the vacationers on the beach because of this did not swim.

“There is no one to blame here. My wife did nothing but swim. At some point, I swam into that area. That is, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, ”commented the husband of the victim.

According to her husband, the elementary school teacher from California could not hear the warning cries of people on the beach, as she was under water. “My wife was wearing a swimming cap and her head was in the water when the seal came in,” he said. “She couldn’t hear the screams of 50 people on the beach. And when she suddenly raised her head and saw that people were signaling to her, at that moment the seal attacked her and dragged her under the water.

As for the woman, she said that she was very shocked by the attack of the sea animal. “I am a teacher and I am very concerned about the environment and wildlife. I teach this to my students. I have collected discarded fish hooks many times, and three years ago I saw a sea turtle tangled in a fishing line and reported it to the appropriate animal rescue organization “, – she said.

According to an environmental organization investigation by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, the woman did absolutely nothing to provoke the seal’s aggression.

Recall that monk seals are found in Greece, but there have been no cases of attacks on humans. On the contrary, these cute little animals have been repeatedly attacked by people (up to the killing of almost tame seals).



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