Christian Einfeldt, 56, was one of two swimmers who was bitten by a sea lion in San Francisco’s Aquatic Park within 24 hours on Thursday and Friday
Officials have shut down a popular swimming beach in San Francisco after two swimmers were attacked by a sea lion in less than 25 hours.
The first attack happened on Thursday afternoon, when 56-year-old Christian Einfeldt was swimming to the mouth of the San Francisco Aquatic Park.
He told KGO from the hospital that a male sea lion started to stalk him and he grew concerned.
He started splashing the sea lion with water but it would not go away. When he started yelling at the sea lion, it attacked – biting his arm.
Einfeldt then used his other hand to push the sea lion away, and it left. But at that point, Einfeldt knew he couldn’t swim back to shore with his heavily bleeding arm.
Luckily a boat was nearby and helped pull him to safety and took him to shore.
This is the sea lion believed to be behind the attacks. It didn’t surface as KPIX cameramen were filming it on Friday
‘I was relatively calm because I wasn’t dead,’ he said.
Once back on dry land, members of the San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit applied a tourniquet to the wound and then took him to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. He was in serious condition at one point but is expected to recover.
He spoke to KGO between surgeries on Thursday.
But less than 24 hours later, another swimmer was bitten by what is believed to be the same sea lion.
A second man was bitten in the Aquatic Park (pictured above) on Friday morning. He is 60 and has not been identified
Officials have banned swimming at the park until the situation can be addressed
A 60-year-old man, who has not been identified, was bitten on the arm in the same location Friday morning around 8am.
Since the second attack, officials in San Francisco decided to shut down swimming at the beach until at least Monday, so they could assess the situation.
Two attacks in such a small time frame is bizarre since such incidents are rare to begin with.
‘I’ve only been part of the unit for two years now and I haven’t had a single sea lion or wildlife attack like this,’ Officer Matthew Reiter, of the marine unit, said.
Dr. Claire Simeone, Conservation Medicine Veterinarian for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, said that sometimes sea lions attack if they are ‘sick or injured’.
‘They may be showing a behavior or protecting an area, and sometimes the behavior seems more random,’ she said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that California sea lions are ‘unpredictable and can become aggressive quickly’.
‘They have sharp teeth and may bite, particularly if cornered, harassed, sick, or if protecting their young. Sea lions can be playful, however they can also be territorial and dangerous especially during the mating seasons,’ the agency says.
Despite his brush with death, Einfeldt said it won’t stop him from swimming.
‘I’m going to be swimming in waist-deep water,’ he said. ‘This is their kingdom, I don’t want to roll the dice a second time.’
– In this Oct. 15, 2010, file photo, sea lions bark at each other at Pier 39 in San Francisco