‘Locals Only!’ Angry Sea Lions Chase Surfers in New Zealand (Video)

Estrada captioned:

“Just another day at the beach in Southland for local core lord “Crackers” @damoncracknell

“This angry Sea lion chased crackers out of the lineup, I was shooting with my 400mm from the dunes and then it came right up the beach and chased us back to the car park.

“Gotta love the wild life down here.”

One scene shows a surfer on the sand, being literally chased from the water by a clearly irritated sea lion. And then the last slide, that could be one for top animal photos ever in National Geographic. It shows a sea lion, jaws agape, leaping out of the water, as a surfer flees from a potentially detrimental nibble.

Sounds like everyone made it out okay, though. Close call.

It’s also not the first time that we’ve seen sea lions acting aggressively towards surfers. Last year, a surfer was attacked by what he called a “demonic” sea lion while in the water in California’s Ventura County. RJ LaMendola, the surfer, was hospitalized after the bite.

“The pain was sharp and immediate, but the terror was worse—it shook its head violently, tugging me off my board by my flesh, dragging me into the water,” LaMendola explained. “This isn’t normal sea lion behavior. It’s something darker, something dangerous.”

In that incident, it was suspected that the sea lion was suffering from a neurological toxin – sort of like ocean rabies, which can make animals more violent – caused by and algae bloom filled with domoic acid.

No word if the sea lions in New Zealand were suffering from the same thing. Probably just a case of territorialism, and the “locals only” mentality.