Michael Fujiwara
A sea lion has become an internet sensation overnight after yanking a little girl off a Canadian dock this weekend. The girl, who has not been identified, was not harmed in the attack Saturday, but video of the incident quickly went viral. Taken by Michael Fujiwara and posted on YouTube, the video shows a group of tourists in the seaside town of Steveston remarking on how cute a sea lion is as it swims up to the dock where they’re standing. As the group marvels at how big the animal is, the little girl sits down on the edge of the dock. The sea lion then abruptly lunges at the girl, snatches her by her dress, and yanks her into the water. The girl looks shell-shocked as she looks up from the water, but a man quickly dives in and rescues her. While the incident left many shocked by what they saw as the sea lion’s unexpected aggression, experts were more baffled by the behavior of the people in the video. Andrew Tites, director of the University of British Columbia’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, told CBC News that the sea lion most likely thought the girl’s dress was food. “My first reaction to the video is just how stupid some people can be to not treat wildlife with proper respect,” he said, adding that sea lions “are not circus performers.” “They’re not trained to be next to people.”