SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on sea lion attacks on swimmers in San Francisco Bay (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
A swimmer bitten by a sea lion in San Francisco says he believes the animal trailed him as he swam from the beach to the mouth of a cove where he was attacked.
Christian Einfeldt tells San Francisco television station KGO that when he turned around to swim back Thursday, the massive sea lion was right there.
Einfeldt says he felt threatened but was a quarter-mile from shore and there was nothing he could do.
The sea lion bit him on the upper right arm and he started bleeding. Knowing he could not swim back, Einfeldt said he flagged down a nearby sailboat.
Einfeldt, who spoke to the station between surgeries, says he remained “relatively calm.”
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11:15 a.m.
San Francisco authorities say a second swimmer has been injured by a sea lion and that the cove where the attacks happened has been closed to swimmers.
The San Francisco Fire Department says the swimmer was attacked Friday. It says the man’s injuries are non-life threatening.
A 56-year-old swimmer was seriously injured Thursday in the same area and authorities are trying to determine if the same sea lion attacked both men.
Matthew Reiter with San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit says the sea lion got near the swimmer attacked Thursday and that the man splashed water on it but the animal did not go away.
The man then yelled at it and that’s when the sea lion came up to him and bit him.
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8:31 a.m.
Officials say a person swimming in San Francisco’s bay was seriously injured after being bitten by a sea lion.
Oakland television station KTVU reports that officers applied a tourniquet to the swimmer’s arm before he was transported to San Francisco General Hospital. Officials say he’s expected to recover.
Matthew Reiter with San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit says the sea lion got near the swimmer and the man splashed water on it but the animal did not go away. The man then yelled at it and that’s when the sea lion came up to him and bit him.
A man on a nearby sailboat saw the swimmer in distress and pulled him onto his boat and immediately called police.
The 56-year-old swimmer has not been identified.
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