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Startling video shows sea lion drag little girl into water

Mary Bowerman
USA TODAY
A sea lion dragged a little girl into the water over the weekend. She was unharmed.

Dramatic video taken at a dock in British Columbia shows a sea lion grab a little girl and drag her into the water. 

Michael Fujiwara captured video on his cell phone of a sea lion swimming in the water at the Steveston Fisherman's Wharf if Richmond, British Columbia on Saturday, CNN reported. Fujiwara told CNN the sea lion was getting a lot of attention and a little girl and her family came to the edge of the dock to get a closer look. 

"Her family started feeding the animal and the sea lion started to become comfortable," Fujiwara said. 

In the video, people laugh as the sea lion bobs its head above the water. People hold their hands out above the water as if waving food. At one point, the sea lion emerges from the water and comes within inches of the little girl's face. She laughs, and then sits on the dock. 

Seconds later, the sea lion lunges out of the water and grabs the little girl, pulling her back. 

A man jumps into the water after her and the bystanders pull them out of the water. 

"After being pulled back onto the dock, the family quickly walked away from the area without saying much," Fujiwara told CNN. "They were probably very shaken up and just wanted to get away from the sea lion as fast as possible."

The video, which was been viewed over 8 million times on YouTube, reiterates that visitors should not feed the animals, Andrew Trites, the director of UBC's Marine Mammal Research Unit, told CBC. 

"This was a male California sea lion," Trites told CBC. "They are huge animals. They are not circus performers. They're not trained to be next to people."

He said the sea lion likely thought the little girl's dress was food. 

"The little girl has her back to the sea lion and it would appear that the sea lion sees part of her dress, thinks it's food, reaches up, grabs at the food and pulls her in by the dress," he said. "But it wasn't food of course."

Follow Mary Bowerman on Twitter: @MaryBowerman.