Surfer fights for survival after vicious sea lion attack off coastline: 'Its eyes locked onto me with an unsettling ferocity'

A surfer in Southern California had a terrifying encounter with a sea lion off Oxnard, USA Today reported. Although the attack seemed to come out of nowhere and ended with the surfer seeking treatment at a hospital, it wasn't the animal's fault, as experts later revealed.

What happened?

RJ LaMendola was peacefully surfing and wasn't aware of any animals nearby when a sea lion approached him about 150 yards offshore.

"Out of nowhere a sea lion erupted from the water, hurtling toward me at full speed," he wrote on Facebook. "Its mouth gaped wide, teeth flashing, and its eyes locked onto me with an unsettling ferocity."

LaMendola tried swimming away, dodging, fighting off the sea lion's attacks, and keeping the board between him and the animal, but it still managed to bite him severely on the left buttock.

"I don't know how to describe the fear that gripped me in that moment," he said. "So far from shore, so helpless, staring into the face of this creature that looked like nothing I'd ever seen — its expression was feral, almost demonic, devoid of the curiosity or playfulness I'd always associated with sea lions."

When he got out of the sea lion's grip, it pursued him all the way back to shore. Luckily, LaMendola made it out of the water and drove himself to the hospital for treatment.

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Later, LaMendola spoke to experts at the Channel Islands Marine Wildlife Institute about the incident. They revealed that an algal bloom off Malibu has affected sea life, including more than 50 sea lions. The domoic acid they ingested from a single-celled organism called Pseudo-nitzschia can damage the heart but, perhaps more importantly, also causes brain damage.

"It's a neurological condition caused by toxic algae blooms, and it's driving these creatures into aggressive, uncharacteristic behavior," LaMendola wrote. "The sea lion that attacked me wasn't just acting out — it was sick, its mind warped by this poison coursing through its system."

Why is this wildlife encounter concerning?

Algal blooms aren't random. They occur more and more often due to nutrient pollution in our waters. The nutrients can come from wastewater or agricultural runoff — two forms of pollution that cause microbes in the water to multiply out of control. Depending on the microbes, they can block out light and kill off aquatic plants, choke fish, and poison wildlife, pets, and humans.

What's being done about algal blooms?

You can do your part to prevent algal blooms by limiting your use of fertilizer in your yard. No fertilizer on your lawn means no nutrient-heavy runoff to pollute your local waterways. To make this easier, you can switch to a natural lawn that doesn't need as much maintenance as turf grass.