A TikTok video showing dozens of San Diego beachgoers fleeing and jumping out of the way of two fast-moving sealions has generated nearly 10 million views, as well as sparking conversations about whether the mammals were attempting to reclaim the picturesque La Jolla Cove’s narrow strip of sand.
The video, shared by Charlianne Yayna, appears to show two blubbery sea lions charging toward a frightened crowd of beachgoers, which quickly parted as they made their way for the ocean and jumped in.
However, sea lion expert Eric Otjen of SeaWorld San Diego said what he saw was normal sea lion behaviour for this time of year, when males are sparring as breeding season gets underway.
“He’s got swimmers all around him on his way back out, but they don’t bother him. What this is all about is his right to mate,” Otjen said, adding: “This behaviour is not uncommon at all. The reason why the video has gotten like 10 million views is because everybody is running like Godzilla is chasing them.”
“It may look funny that everybody is running, but it’s not a bad choice. You don’t want to be caught in the cross fire,” Otjen said. “Even if they don’t bite, it’s not a great feeling to have 200 to 300 pounds roll over you.”
A spokesperson for SeaWorld San Diego watched the video and said it appears the first sea lion is actually running from the second.
“You would really only notice if you watch a lot of sea lion behaviour, but the fact that one jumps in the water and the other does so quickly after shows they are following one another,” they said.
Speaking about the now-viral video, Yayna, who shot the footage on Friday, said: “I started recording because it was really funny to watch, for me to see all these tourists getting blown away by these giant sea lions.”
She added: “The sea lions were sleeping and were just massive on the beach and I was just watching them and this woman got really close to them, like 4 feet away, and was trying to take a photo of it up close, and it just woke up and started chasing everybody.”
Yeyna added that she was concerned for the tourists’ safety, saying she saw many signs posted warning visitors to give seals and sealions space.
