Sea Lion Attacks Surfer at Manresa State Beach

One of my friends was surfing Manresa State Beach last week (July 31) when she got attacked by a sea lion.

First the sea lion attacked her surfboard.

"I threw my biscuit (surfboard) at it, and it just latched onto it!" texted my friend.

Then it grabbed onto her leg and wouldn't let go.

"I had to grab the thing's neck and drag it to shore to stop it from attacking," texted by friend shortly after the attack.

Good job fighting off the sea lion, M! Fortunately, it didn't tear her skin, probably because she was wearing a wetsuit to protect her. Or maybe the sea lion was just playing around with her, and didn't want to hurt her?

When I told Stefan about the attack he said, "sea lions are the Rottweilers of the sea!"

And they have bad breath, too! I know this from personal experience, and not because I go around making out with sea lions. I mean come on, I'm married, I can't do that.

Here's the full account from my friend:

Well, it was a sea lion attack, not a shark, so I guess you could say your board saved my leg, not my life…but that thing still could have taken a nice chunk out of my leg…I could have bled to death. so yeah…your board saved my life!!!

For starters I’m a huge Merrick fan, and while I was pretty sad to see it get chomped by local sea life, I was glad it was the one thing I could stick between me and its foamy fangs.

I was out surfing a tiny morning (perfect for my 5’8’’biscuit) at Manresa state beach in Santa Cruz on July 31st. After catching an itsy right, and it being low tide, I began to walk my way back to the break when a nice sized sea lion popped its head up about 5 feet in front of me.

Of course, Monterey Bay flourishes with sea life, so I thought nothing of it..that is until I saw this thing open its mouth and lunge at me...I was only in about waist high water and it lunged at me!!

AHAAHAHAHAHA....I screamed...of course, not a girly scream...a simple, being attacked by a sea lion scream...so yeah...I screamed and threw my little board at it and it caught it in its mouth!! It chomped my favorite biscuit and started pulling me offshore...so I grabbed the other side of my board and pulled back…mind you, I love that board, and I was not ready to see it lost at sea.

Besides, I was still attached by a leash. So there I was, my grip clenched to the left side of my board, staring at a not so happy sea lion, chomped down on the right side…weirdest tug a war I’ve ever been in...Got a real nice look at sea lion whiskers…those things are huge!!! Meanwhile, big goofy guys around me are screaming "oh my god!” not very helpful....and why does this crap always happen to the girls in the line up?

Anyway, back to the evil sea lion of death…At some point it decides to let go of my board, but instead of swimming off, it ducks under and grabs my right leg...Okay, I don't know how but it didn't even break the wetsuit skin...gotta love Ripcurl!

While it's down at my leg I reach down a grab its neck, and with a fist clenched with sea lion skin, I tug it up to the surface, and hold it at an arms length away from my body. It began to thrash around a bit, and with my hand still clenched around the back of its neck, it swam around me and my board, and grabbed my leash in it’s mouth.

Again, it proceeds to tug me offshore...It was crazy...All the guys around me were in shock...lifeguards are yelling at people to get out of the water…good times….
My hand was still tightly clenched to the back of this things neck like a puppy, so I did the only rational thing…I dragged it to shore in hopes it would stop it from attacking me.

I figured I’d much rather take my chances facing those teeth onshore, then in the water, and since the lion didn’t appear to be giving up, I dragged the poor animal to shallow waters, it’s mouth still tightly clamped on my leash! When I got to shore the lifeguards held it down while I undid my leash..aaahhahahahahah! What the heck! My board may be trashed but I still have both legs and arms, and a great story to tell!, Well, I contacted the Monterey Bay Research Institute and officially record the event as a seal attack on a human...crazy stuff.


Apparently there’s so little food for sea lions that they are attacking anything and everything..poor little guys..aren't I lucky?

Anyway, all in all I am very thankful that your board was able to hold up as a barrier between me and a very upset sea lion..A split second before I tossed it at a snarling sea animal, I had the gut instinct to throw my “precious board” out of the way of those teeth, just to let you know how much I loved that board!!!

Then I realized a new board/repair would be cheaper then a trip to the hospital…I’m an X-ray tech, so I know just how much a trip to the hospital with half a leg bitten off would cost! Well, I certainly hope you enjoy my story and pictures, and again, I send this letter with both hands and both legs, with great appreciation for you and your company.
Again, thanks so much!!!!