Tourist photo frenzy nearly leads to sea lion disaster on the beach
A recording has appeared online showing tourists approaching dangerously close to sea lions to take a perfect picture with them.
The video was posted on the Touronsofnationalparks profile on Instagram. It shows a group of sea lions resting on a beach. At a short distance in front of them, tourists are gathered, taking pictures.
One step away from disaster
At one point, you can see a girl approaching very close to the sleeping animals and squatting, posing for a photo.
Immediately after her, another tourist assumes a similar position, waking the sleeping sea lions and frightening them. The animals abruptly jump up, causing panic among their companions. The girl also gets scared and jumps back toward the group of tourists.
Although no one was hurt, this situation should be treated as a warning. The startled animals could have attacked the curious girl with their teeth.
Tourists should keep a proper distance from animals
"My mum once witnessed a similar situation. A tourist from Germany wanted to take a picture of a walrus, so he kicked it to wake it up. Instead of a photo, he ended up with six holes in his leg from its teeth," we read in the comments under the shared post.
"This is ridiculous," commented someone else. "The park authorities should somehow fence off the area where these animals are located so that people cannot get so close," we read.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, you should keep a distance of at least 45–90 metres from sea lions and other marine mammals.
