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“I saw a shadow of it, and all I’m thinking is, ‘Please, don’t be a shark. Please, don’t take off my arm, and please, don’t kill me,’” Phoebe recounted. She couldn’t make out what had attacked her, the water too murky to offer any clues.
The young lifeguard trainee recalled the horror she felt as she resurfaced, still unable to identify the creature. “The first bite — I went under, and I just see the shadow, but I couldn’t make out what it was,” she explained. “As I came up, I was way too scared to face it head-on. I’m screaming this way as it’s biting me over here and it finally let go.”
Phoebe’s mother, Bibi Beltran, along with others on shore, watched the terrifying incident unfold. When Bibi saw what appeared to be a fin in the water, she feared the worst. “I saw something come up, like a fin, and somebody yelled, ‘Shark,’” she said. “We all rushed to the water, and when I realized it was my daughter… that’s when I broke down.”
When Phoebe finally made it back to shore, bleeding from the bite wound, lifeguards quickly sprang into action. They treated her injuries before rushing her to the emergency room for further care.
“I was getting up onto shore when I stood up and the lifeguards saw that my arm was bleeding,” Phoebe said. “They took me to the sand and started fixing me up before sending me to the ER.”
At first, lifeguards and authorities suspected the attack may have been from a shark, but a surprising twist awaited. It wasn’t a shark at all—it was a sea lion.
Sea lions, which can grow up to six feet in length and weigh as much as 700 pounds, are typically peaceful creatures. They rarely pose a threat to humans, but this attack was different. Long Beach Fire Department official Gonzalo Medina, who had been in the field for 25 years, admitted, “In my 25 years of service, I’ve never heard of something like this happen before.”
So, what could have caused such an unusual attack? Experts believe that the sea lion may have been driven to bite by a rare occurrence—domoic acid poisoning. This toxin, produced by algae blooms in the water, can affect the behavior of sea lions, potentially turning them aggressive.
“Certainly a side effect of the acid is potentially aggressive behavior, but there’s no way to tell,” Medina added.
Justin Viezbicke, California Stranding Coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, confirmed that the behavior of sea lions has been changing in recent years. “With this domoic acid poisoning, for some reason, it’s changing something in them that does create a situation where the sea lions have reacted, and that reaction has been either to bite or to chase after people or to exhibit behaviors that we would consider not normal,” Viezbicke explained.
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Despite the terrifying ordeal, Phoebe is determined not to let this attack end her dreams of becoming a lifeguard. Her resolve stands strong as she continues to pursue her training, undeterred by the traumatic encounter.
While this unusual attack has raised alarms among experts and locals alike, the incident serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the ocean and the dangers that even the most experienced lifeguards can face.
Phoebe’s strength and resilience in the face of such an extraordinary challenge prove that nothing—whether it’s a shark, a sea lion, or any other unexpected threat—will stop her from following her calling.
