Usually when the words ‘Get out of the water’ are shouted from the beach, one presumes there is a shark on the prowl. Imagine beach goers at the Clifton 4th beach’s surprise when they realised it wasn’t a shark, but a baby seal attacking youngsters frolicking in the waves.
The video clip, shared by Twitter user Dylan Moore on Wednesday morning, is quickly gaining momentum on social media as South Africans debate why the seal went into attack mode.
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Seal attacks are very rare
According to the blog AZ Animals, seals are generally not poisonous or dangerous to humans as they are not very aggressive animals, with the exception of the leopard seal. The leopard seal has a record of being aggressive towards humans.
Why did this seal attack the swimmers?
Seal attacks on humans are very rare as seals are naturally not very aggressive animals, but they will bite in defence when they feel cornered or provoked. The AZ Animals blog cite that when seals are in their natural habitat, they are often timid and would not initiate an attack out of anywhere, unless they feel threatened or provoked.
What we know about the seal attack
Not much is known about the context of the video. In the one-and-a-half-minute video clip we can only see a baby seal making its way from the beach into the waves. A female can be heard saying “Ah cute” in the background as the seal swims away.
But then as the camera follows the seal swimming away in the waves, it all of a suddenly dashes towards a young boy playing in the shallow waves. As the boy runs away from the attacking seal, he gets bitten on the leg, and as he tries to get away from the animal, he falls in the water and all hell breaks loose on the beach as people start screaming.
An adult, presumably the child’s father can be seen rushing into the water to rescue the child. Two other men and a lifeguard soon come to his rescue as he is also swept off his feet by the water and attacking seal.
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Get out of the water!
When the young boy is finally out of harm’s way and on the beach, people can be heard shouting ‘Get out of the water’ to a swimmer who seemingly missed all the commotion.
In the video clip, you can see the seal swimming up behind the young woman before it starts attacking her. As she desperately tries to get away from the danger, screaming terrified, men rush into the water to rescue her and catch the seal.
