Internet thanks lifeguard who asked young girl to leave beach after she threw rocks at sleeping sea lion
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: A young child who had repeatedly been hurling rocks and sand at a sleeping sea lion had been asked to leave the beach by a lifeguard. The incident, which took place at the La Jolla Cave in San Diego, was recorded and posted on TikTok, following which the bodyguard was hailed for being a champion of animal safety. In the video, the lifeguard is spotted using loudspeakers and saying, “little girl in the purple, you can leave now, thanks.” The video, which showed the incident that took place on Sunday, February 26, has more than 2.2 million views.
“The little girl had thrown rocks/sand like two more times before this announcement,” the poster of the video had said. The child’s mother appeared to show no reaction to her daughter disturbing the poor animal’s sleep, and had apparently looked shocked when the lifeguard had acted. “The mom looked shocked because they finally said something,” the woman who filmed the video had said according to The Independent. Right before the lifeguard had called out the child, she had jumped back, chuckling, when the sea lion turned back at her in annoyance. The beach had apparently been crowded, with most of the visitors of the day keeping their distance from the animal and maintain their composure.
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Distressed TikTok users had taken to the comment box to express their disappointment at the incident. One of them had even called out the young girl’s parents, who had done nothing as the child continued to provoke the wild animal. The user commented, “WHY ARE THE PARENTS JUST STANDING THERE!?” “People are so disrespectful towards sea life! Wish they would’ve been there while I was there to check them,” another one added.
A few others had commented expressing their happiness at the lifeguard’s actions. One of them said, “Thank you for the person in the loud speaker.” Whilst, someone commented, “Lifeguard was like not today on my shift.” Another user had gotten their kick out of the situation, saying, “Is there more footage so I can see them leaving with little girl in purple in tears?” “Normalize kicking out children when they misbehave,” one commenter had said about the incident.
Authorities warn public about sea lions
Keeping this incident in mind, the words of Robyn Davidoff, chair of the Sierra Club Seal Society have been re-emphasized. Davidoff had talked about how unruly sea lions could be, while reminding the public that even though sea lions were getting used to having people around them, they were still ‘wild animals’ at heart.
Davidoff had said, “They don’t realize they should keep a distance from them. They are wild animals. They are a little bit used to us, but they still are wild, and this time of the year, when they’re talking about mating, thinking about mating, they get a little frisky – people have to get out of the way.” He also stated that sea lions may take to biting as well, if they feel the need to.
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.