Man Hospitalized After Encounter With ‘Demonic’ Sea Lion in California

A man was left hospitalized and suffering from PTSD after an encounter with a “demonic” sea lion in California.

Rj LaMendola recounted his terrifying experience on Facebook, calling the marine life encounter “the most harrowing and traumatic experience of my 20 [years] of surfing.”

LaMendola said he was about 150 yards from shore when “out of nowhere, a sea lion erupted from the water, hurtling toward me at full speed. Its mouth gaped wide, teeth flashing, and its eyes locked onto me with an unsettling ferocity.”

After he “barely dodged” the first attack, LaMendola said the sea lion came back for a second and third time “like some deranged predator.”

“Its movements were erratic, wild, almost unhinged,” LaMendola recounted. “… It kept coming, unstoppable, its jaws snapping closer. At the last possible second, as its teeth loomed inches from my face, I swung my arm to fend it off—a clumsy attempt at a punch. It twisted its neck with eerie agility, dodging my strike, and then lunged.”

Surfer Bitten By Sea Lion

The sea lion proceeded to bite LaMendola’s butt cheek, causing him “sharp and immediate” pain as well as “terror” as the animal dragged him into the water.

“Its expression was feral, almost demonic, devoid of the curiosity or playfulness I’d always associated with sea lions,” he wrote.

LaMendola managed to get back on his board, but the sea lion “stalked” him and charged again three or four more times.

“All the while, it trailed me, mouth open, lips quivering with an eerie, predatory intent, as if it wanted nothing more than to drag me under and finish me off,” he wrote. “It didn’t stop until my feet finally scraped the sand.”

LaMendola proceeded to drive himself to the emergency room. He was treated for the bite, which did not show signs of infection, and is expected to completely heal. However, LaMendola wrote that he “won’t be paddling out again anytime soon unfortunately” as the incident left him “shaken and battling PTSD.”

What Led to the Sea Lion Attack?

After the encounter, LaMendola contacted the Channel Islands Marine Wildlife Institute to report what had happened and learned about “a wave of incidents across Santa Barbara and Ventura County involving sea lions and other marine animals affected by Domoic Acid Toxicosis.”

“It’s a neurological condition caused by toxic algae blooms, and it’s driving these creatures into aggressive, uncharacteristic behavior,” he explained. “The sea lion that attacked me wasn’t just acting out—it was sick, its mind warped by this poison coursing through its system.”

Sea lions and other animals like dolphins become infected with Domoic acid after eating small fish in who have consumed harmful algal blooms. The animals then fall severely ill, according to The Marine Mammal Center.

Domoic acid attacks the brain and the heart causing seizures and heart failure. If left untreated, it usually causes permanent brain damage, the center said.

The center added that “the algae thrives in unusually warm waters off the West Coast—ocean conditions that have become more frequent in recent years as we see the impacts of climate change increase.”

Dave Bader, the chief operations and education officer at the Marine Mammal Care Center, told a local ABC affiliate that they’ve witnessed consecutive years of harmful algal blooms in recent years. Since February alone, the center has taken in nearly 150 sea lions, he said.

Michael Milstein, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told SFGATE that the problem has become so widespread that response teams “cannot keep up with them all.”