A woman was severely injured while swimming in Hawaii when a mother seal attacked her.
A witness said the seal appeared to briefly lose her pup according to Hawaii News Now before encountering the woman near the shore of Kaimana Beach on Sunday morning.
60-Year-Old Woman Injured In Hawaii Seal Attack
After finding her pup, the seal moved to a different area and charged the woman who was nearby.
“So I guess that’s mother’s instinct to protect her pup,” witness Curt Otsuka told the outlet. “Everybody was yelling careful, careful getaway.”
Another added: “You hear her screams. This poor woman was terrified.”
The clip revealed how the seal pulled the woman underwater for a few moments. She was later helped to shore by bystanders and a man in a boat.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, suffered cuts to her face, back, and arm but was not seriously injured, KITV reported.
Her husband informed the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources that his wife, a 60-year-old California elementary school teacher, could not hear the warning calls from people on the beach while underwater.
“My wife had a swim cap on, and her head was in the water when both seals appeared,” he said. “She could not hear 50 or so people on the beach screaming for swimmers to get out of the water. She then stands up and hears the people screaming and waving at her.”
“I’m thinking she’s going to die by the time I get down to the beach,” he added. “When I got there, three rescuers, including one in an outrigger canoe were bringing her to shore, while the seals were swimming toward them again.”
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The victim informed the organization how the attack left her shaken for the rest of the day.
“Neither of us could sleep last night,” she told DLNR. “Every time I closed my eyes, I was seeing the mother seal’s mouth.”
“I’m a teacher and I care a lot about the environment and wildlife,” she continued. “I teach conservation to my students. I’ve collected discarded fishing hooks and brought them to shore and three years ago I saw a sea turtle entangled in fishing line and reported it.”
DLNR’s investigation concluded that the woman did nothing to provoke the incident.
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