Sea Lion Snatches Girl, Pulls Her Into Water
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A local marine mammal expert has some advice should you find yourself around wild sea lions -- like a young girl did over the weekend in Canada when a sea lion pulled her into the water.
Tim Binder, executive vice president of animals at the Shedd Aquarium, says people, many times, make the mistake of thinking wild animals they see are "friendly, cuddly" animals.
If you happen to see wild sea lions, Binder says you should refrain from feeding them, as people were doing in the Vancouver area over the weekend. Feeding the animals, he says, is bad for the animals as well as for the people. He says sea lions and other wild animals need to hunt for their food.
"When you have the great fortune of seeing a sea lion in the wild, stay your distance. Enjoy the opportunity to see these animals."
Binder says one of the sea lions at the Shedd was rescued from near the Bonneville Dam on the Washington-Oregon border. That sea lion was going to be euthanized for being a nuisance and eating endangered salmon.
Binder says male sea lions, like the one near Vancouver, can grow from 600-800 pounds, and can be aggressive, especially when defending their territory or harem.
Binder says he did not view the incident near Vancouver as an act of aggression, rather a sea lion going after what he thought was food (the girl's dress) in an area where he's often fed by tourists.
The YouTube video, which was posted on Saturday, has already garnered six million views as of early Monday afternoon.
