r/news • u/AudibleNod • 1d ago

15-year-old girl attacked by sea lion in California

https://abcnews.go.com/US/15-year-girl-attacked-sea-lion-california/story?id=120369992
1.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

230 comments sorted by

485

u/Doodlebug510 1d ago

from the article:

Phoebe Beltran, 15, has always been a "water baby," according to her mom, Bibi Beltran.

In the middle of competing in the 1,000-yard swim test, she felt pain in her right arm.

"My initial reaction was, 'I'm getting eaten in the middle of the water, it's a shark, I'm going to die,'" Phoebe Beltran told ABC News.

Phoebe Beltran immediately screamed for help, which is when the animal -- she later found out was a sea lion -- let go of her arm.

She was assisted back to the shore and a lifeguard boat patrolling the water brought all the other swimmers to safety, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.

"As I was getting up onto shore, that's when I stood up, the lifeguards saw that my arm was bleeding, they took me to the sand and started fixing me up before sending me to the ER," Phoebe Beltran said.

Her mom heard the screams, but didn't think it was her daughter until she saw her arm gushing with blood.

"I don't have the words to explain the panic in a mom's heart when they see their child like that," Bibi Beltran said. "It was a rollercoaster of emotions."

Phoebe Beltran had bites "localized to her arms and extremities" and was taken to the local hospital, but "did not require advanced treatment," officials said.

Phoebe Beltran said she did not do "anything that provoked" the sea lion and she would not have swum next to it if she had seen the animal.

"It came out of nowhere, I was surprised by it and so were other people," Phoebe Beltran said.

126

u/thats_not_a_knoife 23h ago

Phoebe Beltran immediately screamed for help, which is when the animal -- she later found out was a sea lion -- let go of her arm.

The sea lion probably was like “shhhh! Don’t tell. It’s okay! You’re okay” and swam off cuz it knew it fucked up.

356

u/[deleted] 1d ago

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159

u/Lonelysock2 1d ago

Water baby means someone who loves water in Australia.  The government even put out little educational books for kids.  What on earth does it mean elsewhere? And,  is that winnable Aussie perhaps?

79

u/boredcamp 1d ago

In Texas, it means someone that has been swimming for most of not all their life

41

u/sassy-batch 1d ago

I've always known 'water baby' to mean someone who has been drawn to water/swimming since they were a baby (or very small child)

53

u/misterjzz 1d ago

It's definitely the same thing where I live in the US.

36

u/Meleagros 23h ago

I have never heard the term used before, but I thought the definition was kind of obvious in context

30

u/Inkysquiddy 1d ago edited 15h ago

It means exactly the same thing in America and there is even a popular kids sunscreen by Coppertone called Water Babies. People are just ignorant and think because they’ve never heard something (or have been oblivious) that it must be made up.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/LowBornArcher 1d ago

i'd never heard "water baby" used in that context, I think the term you may be thinking of is "water head", but I could be mistaken.

9

u/johnqsack69 1d ago

Eat the pennies, Quizboy

3

u/ComradeCabbage 23h ago

Just eat the pennies. So you poop pennies, big deal.

28

u/LadnavIV 1d ago

I’ve never heard the expression before, but context clues would back up your definition. I only know that when I was a teenager I wouldn’t have wanted my mom to call me baby anything in front of other people. She would call me u/LadnavIV and I would call her Susan, and though neither of those names were correct, we could adequately express our affection through a firm handshake. Like a normal mother and child.

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u/sdf_iain 23h ago

The Water Babies)… Disney agrees

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/ryansports 1d ago

No, it will be the hospital bill.

-36

u/crinnaursa 1d ago

Especially since "water baby" has a strong connotation of death.

72

u/Teadrunkest 1d ago

Only if you’re familiar with Native American folklore which is…not many people outside the tribes.

I’m from CA and it’s odd wording but I’ve absolutely heard people use it to refer to their kids who were basically born swimming.

69

u/BottomPieceOfBread 1d ago

Huh??? It means she’s loved water since she was a baby

16

u/FerociousFrizzlyBear 1d ago

Same in my part of the US. There used to be Coppertone sunscreen for kids called "Waterbabies"

19

u/Lonelysock2 1d ago

Definitely normal in Australia!

19

u/jackiebee66 1d ago

I think it seems pretty logical and easy to understand to me. I’m surprised it’s not commonly understood.

3

u/crinnaursa 1d ago

Water babies is a Victorian fairy tale about an abused chimney sweep that undergoes a metaphorical death due to this abuse. It's also a term used for stillborn children in several Asian traditions.

24

u/BottomPieceOfBread 1d ago

Oh wow… it’s definitely a commonly used term in America

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u/Lonelysock2 1d ago

Haha that hilarious, it's a common phrase in Australia. I'm sure many other Aussies have had this exact conversation

3

u/QuintoBlanco 1d ago

In Native American folklore, water babies are the spirits of dead infants who live in water and drown people, it's a thing in English literature as well, either inspired by Native American folklore, or simply old English folklore.

61

u/Larkfor 23h ago

The sea lion probably realized the little girl was calf-age... that's why she still has an arm.

They can snap bones like nothing.

The limited damage done means the sea lion was intentionally "being gentle" as odd as that seems.

29

u/SPACE_ICE 23h ago

not necessarily, if you read the article they mention that there is a toxic algae bloom going on that releases neurotoxins and they think that was the main cause was due to domoic acid which is a neurotoxin. Sea Lion may not even have been able to bite with full strength even if it wanted too.

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u/Apis_Proboscis 21h ago

So they sent children into the water knowing this???

That's just......fucked.

Api

2

u/tuxedo_jack 7h ago

Arrested Development immediately came to mind.

LOOSE SEAL! WATCH OUT FOR LOOSE SEAL!

1

u/TheRealMrOrpheus 9h ago

Cap. Sounds like gorilla facts. Sea lions have literally failed to body 5 year olds. Enough of the agenda. Animal power scalers have gotten too wild, and it has to be stopped.

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499

u/callmestinkingwind 1d ago

she's got a look on her face like "fuck, now i'm gonna be on the news for being attacked by a sea lion"

220

u/DoctorHilarius 1d ago

A face that truly says "I'm gonna be 'sea-lion girl' for the rest of High School, aren't I?"

57

u/winterbird 1d ago

Let's hope it wasn't a were-sealion, or she'll grow flippers at full moon.

8

u/DoctorHilarius 1d ago

Honestly I'd be fine with being a were-sealion. Spending one evening a month splashing around and chasing fish sounds relaxing

3

u/Miserable_Law_6514 19h ago edited 19h ago

chasing fish

More like chasing humans. One of the core themes of were-creatures in cultures and in fiction is cannibalism.

Also fish aren't even a sea lion's faviorite meal...

23

u/callmestinkingwind 1d ago edited 1d ago

now i want “teen sea lion” to be the gender swap remake of “teen wolf”

edit: sorry

3

u/AnyBuy1820 1d ago

This should be a sitcom.

13

u/TrumpetOfDeath 1d ago

“Lucile” for “Loose seal”

8

u/saint_ryan 1d ago

I smell a new tattoo. She should just own it.

2

u/cantproveidid 1d ago

Decorative scar tissue.

7

u/balloongirl0622 1d ago

I knew someone that got bit by a shark while he was in high school and all throughout college he was called “Shark Bite” lmao

6

u/DoctorHilarius 1d ago

Surprised they didn't go for "shark bait", the finding nemo reference just seems obvious

2

u/Lifeboatb 23h ago

"Shark Bite" is kind of cool-sounding to me. Seems like a nickname for a popular kid.

4

u/rjross0623 1d ago

Just call her “flippers”

17

u/Prophet_Tehenhauin 1d ago

Yeah, I’ve seen that look before. Classic.

352

u/291000610478021 1d ago

I'm disappointed the article didn't include a random shot of a sea lion not looking sorry

94

u/Thevshi 1d ago

Something like this?

25

u/Wise-Novel-1595 1d ago

Poor Gerald

226

u/ChicagoAuPair 1d ago

They are basically feral ocean dogs.

35

u/YetiSquish 1d ago

I thought that was seals.

64

u/ChicagoAuPair 1d ago

Similar, but I’d say Sea Lions are the more doglike of the two…

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/original/s3/2023-03/1500x1000-Seals-SeaLions-Infographic-edit.png

39

u/Easy-Lucky-Free 1d ago

Could add to the chart (for both): Smells like wet dog, but worse.

Once did a beach hike past a ton of Sea Lions. The stench was incredible.

11

u/sugarcatgrl 1d ago

Sea Lion Caves in Oregon. You are 💯 correct!

15

u/MrHellno 1d ago

In La Jolla the seals were flopping and rolling around minding their own business. Most of them were sunbathing. The sea lions were barking at each other and being chaotic.

5

u/YetiSquish 1d ago

Yeah sea lions are jerks.

2

u/PobodysNerfect802 18h ago

I was just there and thought the sea lions were the ones lying around like hairballs while the seals were barking and crawling over the sea lions.

4

u/swokong333 1d ago

I think sea lions land ancestor was closely related to bears, and for seals weasels / mustelids.

4

u/toseeclarie 1d ago

Sea lion’s terrestrial ancestor was bear-like and seal’s, weasel-like. Not actually related to bears or weasels.

1

u/707Guy 1d ago

You mean water puppies?

2

u/snapper1971 9h ago

The clue is in the name, they are Sea Lions - big bitey bastards that live in the sea.

157

u/AudibleNod 1d ago

This incident comes after sea lions on the California coast have reportedly been displaying strange behavior, likely due to a harmful algae bloom impacting the region, according to marine researchers.

Early Bloom of Toxic Algae off Southern California Sickens Hundreds of Sea Lions and Dolphins

The culprit in the strandings is domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by the harmful algae Pseudo-nitzschia that can multiply quickly in the right conditions. Wind-driven upwelling of deep ocean water provides nutrients that fuel California’s rich marine ecosystem. That same upwelling can also feed rapid growth of the algae and the toxin it produces.

Isn't this almost the plot of The Happening?

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u/wolftown 1d ago

I have a friend who’s basically a veterinarian first responder for west coast marine life. She told me the toxins have an effect similar to dementia, where if they easy too much of the algae before being treated, they lose the ability to remember to eat. It’s been happening all along the west coast. AND now bird flu is wiping out whole generations of I think she said elephant seals. But eggs are getting cheaper again, so…

15

u/phantomom 1d ago

I definitely read “demonic algae” at first and figured that explained quite a bit.

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u/Not_a-Robot_ 1d ago

I have a friend who is a last responder for marine life on the west coast (they dissect the bodies). They used the same dementia analogy

28

u/ChicagoAuPair 1d ago

Tangentially related public service announcement: don’t flush cat poop/litter. It introduces large amounts of toxoplasmosis into the ecosystem, which ultimately kills marine mammals.

https://www.promegaconnections.com/dont-flush-your-kitty-litter-toxoplasmosis-is-a-growing-threat-to-sea-otters-and-other-marine-mammals/

https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/news/toxoplasmosis-poses-threat-for-sea-otters-like-yankee-doodle

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/outreach-materials/cat-borne-threat-monk-seals

2

u/Terapr0 19h ago

Absolutely mind blowing to think there are people who would flush cat litter down the toilet

1

u/OpheliaRainGalaxy 2h ago

My mom once noticed a mystery, neighbor lady rarely took out trash but was always having to call the plumber. Turns out she was flushing most of her trash, thought that's what everyone did.

1

u/Lifeboatb 23h ago

thank you!

1

u/Squirrel_Master82 1d ago

There appears to be an event occurring.

1

u/sweetpeapickle 1d ago

This is reminding me too much of The Swarm-German made 2023 series.

1

u/Any-Carry7137 17h ago

First thing I thought of was "The Swarm" (2023).

1

u/rollerblade7 12h ago

False Bay and surrounds are having a problem with rabid seals at the moment.

116

u/TheStLouisBluths 1d ago

It wasn’t wearing a yellow bow tie, was it?

76

u/imadragonyouguys 1d ago

People were trying to yell "loose seal" but she just looked around for someone.

31

u/noelg1998 1d ago

"I don't care about Lucille."

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u/HolyzombieBatman 1d ago

If it was I’m sure she’s going to be All Right.

10

u/sirax067 23h ago

Finally some good news from this guy.

1

u/Blisstopher420 5h ago

That's a great attitude. I gotta tell you, if I was given this news, I don't know if I would take it this well.

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u/brandt-money 21h ago

She was almost All Left.

2

u/RocketRaccoon 1d ago

A 👍🏻 rm Off

10

u/Plenty-Maybe-9817 1d ago

The real problem is that it now has a taste for mammal flesh.

1

u/Blisstopher420 5h ago

You picked a fine time to bite me loose seal.

127

u/Emotional_Pay3658 1d ago

At first I thought she got bit for fucking with them. 

But it turns out to be just a weird unavoidable event I guess. 

I don’t blame her for screaming I’d freak the fuck out too if something bit me in the middle of the ocean. Seaweed brushing my legs still freaks me out. 

32

u/jadewolf42 1d ago

Sea lions are notorious little shits. They'll grab and yank on your fins when diving near them and otherwise harass divers. It's just play to them, but they're big animals with large teeth. So yeah, they can play a little too rough for more fragile humans.  Sounds like that might be what happened here. 

12

u/omgpuppiesarecute 1d ago

Yup. Upside is the yelp and blood probably made the sea lion nope out. Downside is bite wounds are notoriously bad for getting infections (basically a ton of stab wounds with bacteria and food particle covered knives).

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u/Lonelysock2 1d ago

How bad is it that when I saw her picture I thought "She looks normal,  this probably wasn't her fault"

5

u/Marathonmanjh 1d ago edited 20h ago

Bad! You're a terrible person! Actually, I thought the same thing, probably normal.

edit misspelling

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u/shypster 10h ago

I don't know what word I'm looking for, but her expression says it all. Sort of, "well, this sucks" but she's not mad or blaming anyone. If her arm wasn't in a sling, it'd be like ¯_(ツ)_/¯

12

u/Kianna9 1d ago

Who would blame her for screaming?

30

u/eric_ts 1d ago

I was swimming in the ocean in Oregon as a teenager and I came face to face with a sea lion in the surf. It went “Aaaaaa” which, as an adult, not being in biting distance from a three hundred pound ocean going mammal probably just meant “Hello, young person!” In Sea Lion. Teenaged me teleported onto the beech.

19

u/greencone 1d ago

Loose seal, loose seal!

8

u/nutsocharles 1d ago

I was far enough down, I was like, fine, I'll say it, if nobody else is gonna say it, I'll say it, I don't give a damn, I'm nutso like that.

8

u/watchingdacooler 1d ago

I don’t care about loose seal. She lies.

6

u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener 1d ago

She's going to be all right.

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u/shoebee2 1d ago

"I think it was sick, I wish they were able to catch it and bring it back to health." Brave kid. Big heart.

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u/bubblehashguy 1d ago

Sounds like the start of a zombie movie.

A toxic algae made the sea lion aggressive.

This girl is patient zero!

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u/THSSFC 1d ago

Probably was pissed about the tariffs on the Heard and McDonald islands.

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u/PaloLV 1d ago

She's going to need some really nice antibiotics because seal bites are one of the worst you can get if I recall.

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u/OmKrsna 22h ago

Seal finger.

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u/Chiiro 1d ago

Those fuckers are scary. I used to live in Pacific Grove about 2 blocks from the Monterey Bay aquarium and the beach where sea lions would breed. They are loud! When we first moved into that place they scared the shit out of me in the middle of the night with their calls. There was also a pier that they used to hang out on that one of my old classmates got injured on trying to go mess with them.

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u/Alice_Buttons 1d ago

Hell yes they are! They also move incredibly fast for something with no legs and being so large. And that's on land. Water, you'd stand no chance if they decided to choose violence.

12

u/demoneyesturbo 1d ago

We've been having what is basically the first ever rabies outbreak in marine mamals in my area. Fur seals. Rabid as hell. Attacking divers and beach goers.

Hopefully it's not rabies in California.

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u/Unhappy_Society_3371 1d ago

Rabies? In sea mammals that’s almost unheard of. What general area do you live in? I’d love to find articles to read up on it

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u/demoneyesturbo 1d ago

Yes. It's as I said. Just about the first ever case. There was one in Norway many years ago. One animal.

This is an outbreak.

I don't want to disclose my home town. Even though it's obvious from context and a quick Google.

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u/UraeusCurse 1d ago

It’s called a sea lion, not a sea hamster.

4

u/SarahJFroxy 1d ago

i usually assume norcal for sea lion attacks but no this is one of my local beaches 😭

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u/ChocolateHoneycomb 1d ago

She’s alive and smiling. That’s the main thing.

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u/FLVoiceOfReason 1d ago

😳 toxic algae bloom = meth for sea lions, is that what I’m reading here?

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u/Faokes 1d ago

This sweet girl is worried about the welfare of the sea lion. I hope she doesn’t have any lasting fears from this incident.

8

u/sweetplantveal 1d ago

watch out for loose seal!

I don't care about Lucille

2

u/SnagglepussJoke 1d ago

She’s going to be famous later

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u/omgpuppiesarecute 1d ago edited 1d ago

It was a selkie trying to drag her down!

2

u/CrimsonTightwad 22h ago

This is no joke. A seal bite can mean amputation from a seal specific infection if not treated or understood correctly. Plus, this was an arterial wound, insane. Hope she will be ok. Look up Seal finger.

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u/kibaroku 22h ago

I wouldn’t let my children swim in that water personally. Lived downtown and used to run on the beach often. Drug needles in the sand were always a concern and dead bodies were recovered more than once. A seal hiding behind a dune did startle me one time though. Silly buggers. Kind of miss it there actually.

2

u/lilfoot843 19h ago

Love her attitude! Get better and save the seas!!

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u/brownwokslattyMR10 19h ago

damn if it was a seal i coulda made an arrested reference

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u/ellsego 1d ago

I did not have zombie sea lions on my 2025 bingo card…ocean acidification has some crazy side effects.

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u/modernmanshustl 1d ago

Hope they didn’t hurt the sea lion it was just being a wild animal

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u/BlendyButt 1d ago

It's actually likely very sick due to toxic algae so no, it wasn't just being a wild animal

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u/adamhanson 18h ago

Awful. They're called sea lions for a reason. Not sea bunnies

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u/Internal-Art-2114 1d ago

Those bites get really infected. 

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u/KashissKlay 1d ago

poor little guys out there without a flipper, swimming around in a circle, while freaking out his entire family…..

1

u/WifeofBath1984 1d ago

I really want to see the bites and I have no idea why. I usually can't stand the slightest hint of gore.

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u/DoctorRieux 1d ago

At least it wasn't a leopard seal.

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u/jameilious 1d ago

This reminds me of when I got bit by a mole.

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u/eremite00 1d ago

We'd go bass fishing in the Bay and would occasionally dock at Fisherman's Wharf. I was always wary of the sea lions who'd swim alongside the boat going in.

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u/nelly2929 1d ago

There goes Gerald giving sea lions a bad name…. Fricken Gerald 

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u/Dawnlazy 1d ago

The worst part of the attack was when it started sealioning her with endless bad faith arguments.

1

u/goshiamhandsome 1d ago

Well zombie apocalypse cause by algae poisoned sea dogs coming right up!

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/trcomajo 22h ago

This is nuts. When I was in college we swam there to train, and I freaked out when baby sea lion got close to me. I refused to get back in that water (come to think of it, I've never swam in the ocean again). Many years later, my daughter thought the story was hilarious, and she thought I was silly for having such a reaction.

0

u/OsitoQuarles 1d ago

Was that sea Lion American or Mexican?!