Teen Survives Rare Sea Lion Attack During Lifeguard Tryouts

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) – A 15-year-old girl is recovering after being attacked by a sea lion while training to become a junior lifeguard in Long Beach. The unusual incident occurred during a swimming tryout event at Alamitos Beach on Sunday.

Phoebe Beltran was completing a 1,000-yard swim when she felt a sudden pain in her arm. Initially thinking she had encountered a shark, she quickly realized that the culprit was a sea lion.

“Worst thing that can happen in the ocean, and I’m just thinking to myself like, ‘No, my arm would be off right now, but I still feel my fingers, I still feel my arm,’” Beltran exclaimed.

Her mother, BiBi Beltran, was on the beach when she heard her daughter scream. Panic ensued as others shouted about a possible shark sighting.

“We heard the second scream, and somebody yelled, ‘Shark!’ and we all rushed toward the shore,” BiBi said. “It wasn’t until she started coming out that I realized it was my kid, and I just ran to her and saw her arm bloody.”

A witness observed the sea lion near the buoy shortly before the incident took place. “I felt everything going on. I was just so scared, so shocked,” Phoebe recalled. “But I still felt the immense pain in my arms over and over again.”

Lifeguards quickly brought Phoebe to shore, wrapped her wounds, and transported her in an ambulance for further care.

“In my 25 years of service, I’ve never heard of something like this happening before,” said Gonzalo Medina, Long Beach’s marine safety chief. Upon arriving at the hospital, both doctors and nurses expressed astonishment over the rare occurrence.

Phoebe shared that the prevailing theory among medical staff is that toxic algae, which has been known to affect marine life, may have contributed to the sea lion’s erratic behavior.

“Something was wrong, something had happened because this isn’t normal behavior for them, which is why I don’t blame the sea lion at all,” she stated.

Currently, Phoebe is taking antibiotics and pain medication as she recovers from her injuries. Despite the frightening ordeal, she remains committed to her lifeguarding ambitions and looks forward to returning to the ocean.