Startling video shows sea lion snatching girl from Canadian pier

The viral video shows a sea lion snatching a girl off a dock and yanking her into the water.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

RICHMOND, British Columbia - A college student has startling video of a sea lion snatching a girl off a dock and yanking her into the water on Canada's West Coast.

It happened Saturday in Richmond, a Vancouver suburb. University student Michael Fujiwara tells CBC News that some people started feeding the animal breadcrumbs.

In Fujiwara's video , the sea lion pops up toward the girl as bystanders laugh. Then she sits by the pier's edge. In an instant, the massive mammal shoots up, grabs her dress and pulls her into the water as people scream.

The sea lion disappears as a man plunges into the water and helps the girl out. She doesn't appear injured and walks away with adults.

Marine mammal expert Andrew Trites says the sea lion presumably thought the dress was food.

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