Earlier this week, a video went viral of a little Girl being grabbed by a Sea Lion and nabbed off a dock. She was pulled into the water by the sea lion and then taken underwater by the creature. The strength of this sea lion was seen as the little girl was jerked backward into the water off that dock.
The sea lion not only pulled the girl into the water, but it pulled her under as well, which was a horrifying sight for the crowd on a dock at Steveston Fisherman's Wharf in Richmond, B.C. Canada. The man who jumped in to save the girl is now identified as the unnamed child's grandfather, reports Live Science.
The girl emerged out of the water with her grandfather, and people on the dock scurried to pull both out of them to safety away from that sea lion, which was still nearby.
Girl wounded in sea lion attack
Both the little 4-year-old girl and her grandfather seemed fine, but it was later learned the girl was wounded in the sea lion attack. She emerged from the water with a wound on her lower body that measured about 2 inches by 4 inches, according to CBS News.
Below is the original sea lion attack video that was taken by Michael Fujiwara, who was a passerby using his cell phone to video the sea lion. He happened to be taking the video when the sea lion grabbed the girl. You can see where the sea lion grabbed her on the lower part of the body, which is probably where her wound was later found.
'Seal finger' concerns
Because of this wound concerns for the little girl's health prompted some precautionary measures. Seal lions can transmit a disease called Seal Finger, which is an infection that predominantly settles in the fingers, but it can cause an infection on any part of the body.
What is this infection?
Daniel Brown, who is an associate professor and chairman of infectious diseases and immunology at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, explains how the infection called seal finger works.
If a person is bitten on the leg, the area of the wound could get infected, but that infection could also travel through the bloodstream and cause an infection in another part of the body that wasn't bitten.
Despite where on the body that infection sets in, it is still called seal finger. This little girl is in danger of contracting seal finger because of the wound caused by the sea lion in the attack.
To be on the safe side, the child was prescribed antibiotics to fight off that infection if by chance she did have the bacteria transmitted from the sea lion into that wound.
According to Brown, the term "sea finger" is an "old time" name that came about from seeing infections in the cuts on the hands of those who worked with seals.The little girl was not diagnosed with seal finger, but the antibiotics should make sure that she won't get the infection.
Fingers amputated for some if not treated
The family of the little girl took her for the treatment of seal finger after hearing a mammal trainer from the Vancouver Aquarium mention it several times during an interview. According to a report that was published back in 2009 in the Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery, infections are common place for people who work with seals or seal pelts.
Those who are bitten by a seal will often get this infection.
If the infection was left untreated it would leave the person having a hard time using their hands in the future. It can also cause the red, swollen and painful skin infection called cellulitis if it is gone untreated. This could lead to the infection spreading and causing joint damage. The amputation of fingers has also been the result of an untreated seal finger infection.
