How surfer escaped vicious seal attack

BLOUBERG resident Hjalmar Larsen believes his wetsuit saved him from severe bites when he was attacked by a rabid seal during a recent surfing trip.

He had been surfing in the afternoon about 50 metres out from the lifeguard tower. 

“I literally just got to the backline table out, there was a seal playing about 15 to 20 metres away from me right in front of the lifeguard tower. He looked totally normal, then at one point he popped up, started at me then dived down. I couldn’t see him because the water was a bit murky. Then next thing he just latched onto my right thigh and kept on biting me and just going crazy."

“It was the first time I’d ever been attacked by a seal but there have been a lot of attacks by seals over the last couple of years. I kind of knew what was happening. It was just a freaky experience. I was trying to keep its mouth away from me so I grabbed it by the throat at one stage to keep the teeth away but they are so big and agile in the water and they are fast so it’s difficult. It bit me, it bit my board. I got a little bit away from it when the wave came through."

When he got to the shore, lifesavers assisted him before going to hospital. 

There he received about 20 injections into his wounds for the rabies virus. 

“That was actually worse than the bite because when the seal bit me, adrenaline fills you up so you don’t feel much.”  

Growing up in Blouberg, Larson became used to being around seals.

“I fish, I dive, kitesurf and surf so I get to deal with seals a lot. I’m used to them, you get to notice how they normally act, how they are not supposed to act when they bite you when they’ve got rabies, that’s unnatural (not) normal."

The incident last Thursday came amid government warnings about high-risk rabies areas in South Africa, where the disease has been detected in dogs, Cape fur seals, and other mammals.

The Department of Agriculture said that rabies has become endemic in the Cape fur seal population, with several cases recently detected along the coastline of Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape (up to Algoa Bay). 

The department cautioned that seals may also carry numerous other diseases that can be transmitted to humans, and their sharp teeth can cause physical damage.

Cape Times