LouLou Taylor: Actress recalls 'Jaws' moment when bitten SIX TIMES by 'angry' beach seal while swimming
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: Loulou Taylor was enjoying her New Year in South Africa, but her fun was cut short after she was mauled by ‘an angry seal’. The actress from ‘Raised By Wolves,’ jokingly compared her situation with the cult movie ‘Jaws.’ The attack was recorded and has gone viral on social media, which happened on Wednesday, January 4. Taylor was swimming in the ocean off Clifton Beach in Cape Town, reported Jam Press.
“Be careful swimming at Clifton! I was attacked by a seal in the water and bitten six times, requiring an ER visit and strong antibiotics. They have big teeth. Thank you to those who helped me in and out of the water,” Taylor wrote on her Instagram story. She later gave an update on her health and wrote, “Status update! I’m on the mend. Recent surge in seal attacks is linked to an algae bloom that releases a neurotoxin which triggers aggressive behaviour. What might cause the algae blooms? More than likely global warming/water pollution.” The Cassia from the HBO Max Series was not the first victim of seal, as it first approached and attacked a young boy before it swam towards her, reports The Citizen.
READ MORE
'Raised by Wolves' Episode 10 Preview: Is Paul about to follow in his father's maddened footsteps?
What really triggered the Seal to attack people at the beach?
As per the Hout Bay Seal Rescue Centre, the seal was anxious after being surrounded by a crowd of people, “Any predator that is surrounded and harassed like the seal was would have reacted the same way, but of course, the video doesn’t show the part where the seal is being stressed by a crowd of people surrounding it,” said Dune Spence-Ross, the center’s marketing director. He further told News24, “The beachgoers were lucky… it was only a yearling approximately 12 months old, weighing no more than 10kg by the looks of it. If that was a fully grown seal, the headlines would have been very different.”
In an unrelated event, a nursing monk seal attacked a woman in Hawaii after she swam too close to her and her offspring. The incident took place in July, last year when a kayak paddled over to rescue the woman who was heard screaming.
Witness Curt Otsuka, who recorded the viral clip, said the attack was a result of the "mother's instinct to protect her pup." He told Hawaii News Now, "Everybody was yelling careful, careful, get away." Another witness Markus Faigle added, "You heard her screams, this poor woman was terrified, reports MEAWW."
