The video clip of a sea lion dragging a girl from a dock into the water in British Columbia, Canada, has gone viral, with 6.4 million views since it was posted on YouTube Saturday.
The video posted by Michael Fujiwara shows the sea lion swimming near the dock, then moving closer after it took a piece of food that was apparently given by a member the girl’s family.
The girl moved to the ledge to watch, then sat down, facing away from the sea lion in the water.
The sea lion then lunged for the girl and pulled her by her dress into the water.
A man immediately jumped in to rescue her.
Watch the video below:
Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) quoted Fujiwara as saying there didn’t seem to be anyone injured in the incident, but the girl’s family was “pretty shaken up”.
Meanwhile, CBC also quoted Steveston Harbour Authority Robert Kiesman as saying there had been signs around the area warning people not to feed the sea mammals there.
“You wouldn’t go up to a grizzly bear in the bush and hand him a ham sandwich, so you shouldn’t be handing a thousand-pound wild mammal in the water slices of bread,” CBC News quoted Kiesman as saying.
“And you certainly shouldn’t be letting your little girl sit on the edge of the dock with her dress hanging down after the sea lion had already snapped at her once. Just totally reckless behavior,” he added.
He noted that harbor staff had been regularly making the rounds of the area to forewarn visitors.
