A mama monk seal safeguarding her 2-week-old pup attacked a swimmer off a Hawaii beach over the weekend, prompting new warnings against frolicking too close to wildlife.
The 60-year-old elementary school teacher received lacerations to her face, back, and arm, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement.
The attack occurred at 8:30 a.m. on Oahu about 150 feet off Kaimana Beach where the department said two seals have been caring for their new offspring.
Video taken by the woman’s husband and shared by the department shows the animal aggressively attacking the woman as she screams. The video also shows that the seal was with her pup. The mother is a well-known seal named Rocky who “created a huge sensation when she gave birth to the first pup ever recorded on Waikiki Beach in 2012,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources determined the woman did nothing to provoke the attack and she wasn’t aware the seals were in the water.
The incident occurred before lifeguards were on duty and 10 swimmers including the woman were in the water when the seal attacked, officials said.
From AWM:
A joint effort between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Hawaii Marine Animal Response has been monitoring Rocky and her pup since the little one’s birth. They warned people at the beach to stay away from the mother seal because she could get very aggressive if she felt that someone was getting too close to her baby and was posing a threat.
The elementary school teacher did not know about Rocky or her pup. She put on her swim cap and went under the rope into the protected area where Rocky was raising her little one. Although people screamed at the teacher to leave the area, she ignored their cries and kept swimming.
That’s when Rocky took action. Because the teacher was too close to her baby, she attacked – all in the name of defending her little one. She kept pulling the teacher underwater, and witnesses said the seal even bit the woman on the head at one point.
The teacher’s husband was watching and videotaping from their condominium, on the 12th floor overlooking the beach. He raced downstairs upon seeing the attack, thinking his wife would be dead before he got there.
Witnesses in a canoe were able to rescue the teacher. They brought her to shore and called 911 because she had wounds on her arm, face, and back.
“If it wasn’t for the kayak guy paddling over to save her, she would have got like chomped,” another witness, Curt Otsuka, said.
Watch the video report below for more details:
Source: AWM