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| SAN DIEGO - A photo captured the very moment the terror began for Dan Carlin. |
Dan and Trish Carlin of Carmel Valley told only 10News about their horrifying story of an unusual sea lion attack caught in a photo.
RELATED: Sea lion drags man posing for picture overboard in Mission Bay
They want to warn people that sea lions can be dangerous. They also want to set the record straight about what really happened.
“It was terrifying. When the sea lion was taking me down and I was going at that rate of speed I knew I was going to die,” Dan said. “This wasn’t this could be it – this was this is it.”
Dan and Trish never saw the sea lion coming. It was early April and they were heading back to dock after a day of fishing.
Trish said they decided to take a photo with a fish they caught. Dan grabbed a fish and posed.
“Trish says ‘Ok smile,’” Dan said.
“So I snapped Dan’s picture,” Trish said.
“And the minute that she said ‘smile,’ a sea lion came up and grabbed my hand and the fish at the same time, ripped my arm straight down right here, crushing my chest with unbelievable force,” Dan said.
The sea lion held onto his hand and pilled him overboard.
“Flipped my legs up into the water and I went straight down,” Dan said.
“And I look up and he’s gone,” Trish said. She started screaming for him – she saw the bubbles in the water where he went in.
“I’ve never gone through the water as fast as I was… moving just by my hand he’s holding me now,” Dan said.
Dan thinks he was under and struggling with the sea lion for about 20 seconds. Finally, he breaks free and swims up.
“Just before I got to the surface I felt him biting my foot,” Dan said.
The sea lion took a small piece of bone from his foot. Dan made it onto the boat, bruised and bloody, with a gaping wound, a broken hand and an injured foot. He thinks he survived because he is an experienced free diver.
Trish steered the boat to the dock and they called 911.
The Carlins think the sea lion was going for the dead fish at first, but then latched onto Dan and it turned into a human attack.
The Carlins want to warn people to stay clear of the sea lions. Dan thinks they are too comfortable around humans and fears another one could lash out.
“They are very aggressive, and I want parent to know that you should not let your children get within 10 feet of them,” Dan said.
Trish Carlin said previous accounts that they were feeding the sea lion or throwing fish guts overboard are false and she wants to set the record straight.
“We intentionally don’t feed the seals, we don’t feed the birds we take the carcasses and all the remains and put them in a bucket,” Trish said.
Dan’s hand and foot are healing.
The photo of the sea lion latching onto his hand is his screen saver, a constant reminder of how close he came.
“I feel very lucky to be alive,’ Dan said.
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