I had a lot of ideas for what would be my first post to this blog, such as; my first wave, my first board, my first surf trip, tons of surf related "firsts" fitting and worthy for an opening post - but then last Saturday I was bit by a Sea Lion and it was definitely a first! So with this "first" particularly fresh in my mind and on my thigh let me say welcome to Wave Raves and hopefully you aren't too grossed out by the pics below to come back for post #2.
Shark bites, spider bites, snake bites - that is the nightmare shit that makes me bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night. But a sea lion bite? Not those friendly sea dogs barking on the rocks or fishing in and around the line-up. Never even imagined it could happen. Which is probably why I was so damn surprised when out of nowhere I felt something slam my left thigh with the force of a 2X4 and looked down to see the blur of a brown whiskery face retreating. But let me back up.
It was last Saturday Jan 30th. The Monterey Bay buoy was showing a solid west swell 9' at 15 seconds and the Lane was good. In fact, in typical fashion I had checked about 4 different spots up and down the coast earlier in the day and decided to wait for the late afternoon session at the Lane so suffice it to say I was psyched and ready to surf. I jumped the railing by the lighthouse to walk out to jump off the point. Another guy was heading out at the same time so we were chatting about the swell and how, with the tide so low, we would need to be careful not to get slammed by the surf when getting in the water. About half way toward the end of the point we set our boards down, fastened our leashes and then picked up our boards to head down to the entry point. He went down the path first and then I followed about 10 steps behind and WHAM! I didn't even see him before he hit me. By the time it registered that I'd been bit he had retreated back to his spot just below a little rise snug along the edge of the cliff about 5 feet from where I was to pass. He was a big crusty adult bull male with with a thick layer of brown foamy drool around his mouth!
A guy who had been walking down about 15 yards behind me saw the whole thing and came running up to me as did the guy I'd been walking down with. My wetsuit was all wet where he had bit me but the material wasn't ripped or punctured. I was so bummed because the surf was good and I was half tempted to just surf anyway but the two guys said I should go check to make sure I wasn't bleeding - which I knew was right because, again it felt like I had been hit by a 2X4. I cursed at my nemesis who just glared back at me and then ran back to my car where I pulled my wetsuit off to see this:
Drove myself to the ER where this nice doctor stitched me up.
Sea Lion bites aren't something that the ER sees every day. Here is an ER doctor taking some pics for the text books.
A work of art.
I get the stitches out this Tuesday and Doc says I should be back in the water by next weekend - just in time for next significant swell :) But in the future I'll be sure to give the seals and sea lions a bit more respect.
