Experts weigh in after girl attacked by sea lion in Monterey Co.: 'We're swimming in their backyard'
Sea lions are cute, but what should you do if you encounter one in the water?
PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (KGO) -- California has the largest population of sea lions in the country and that is often on full display at San Francisco's Pier 39.
That said, we've seen a number of sea lion headlines of late.
In Monterey County, a 9-year-old girl was recently attacked by a sea lion at a surf camp.
"The sea lion went under my instructor's leg and then it came up to me and bit me, and then I got dragged under water," said Corale Olsen.
MORE: 9-year-old girl bit by sea lion while surfing off Central CA coast
Then, there are the docks used by boaters, ones that sea lions sometimes like to perch on. Including a massive sea lion recently seen at the Berkeley Marina.
Last week, a sea lion decided to block part of the dock near Pier 39 where boaters exit as they leave their boat tour.
"Yes, I was terrified, I was terrified," said 10-year-old Olivia Sweet Castro.
A captain was able to get the sea lion back in the water, but Giancarlo Rulli of the Marine Mammal Center said, "It's just really important for the public to be aware that we're swimming in their backyard or recreating in their backyard."
We've seen occasional attacks over the years at San Francisco's Aquatic Park. Rulli tells us sea lions flock there for food.
"Fish run for herring, sardines, anchovies, other forage fish that sea lions will actively go after," said Rulli.
MORE: Bacterial disease threatening sea lions along CA's central coast earlier than usual, experts say
Over the course of the last 50 years, California sea lion populations across the west coast have risen to between 250,000 and 275,000. Rulli says that is a good thing as they are a warning signal so-to-speak, for emerging diseases and changes in the ocean.
But they can be big and loud.
"You've seen the sea lions but have you been that close to the sea lions?" asked ABC7 News Reporter J.R. Stone.
"No, I never have actually, but I am native to here," said young Castro.
And Rulli says we should remember, so are they.
"We're very fortunate here in the Bay Area, the Central Coast, Monterey, Santa Cruz County, to share our shores with these magnificent marine mammals, but they are wild marine mammals. They're unpredictable. And the best thing that you can do is if one approaches you, especially in the water, is to make sure that you calmly swim away, exit the water, and stay out of the water until that animal has moved on," said Rulli.
