Colombian songstress Shakira had a close call with one of the creatures when, during a recent trip to Cape Town, it lurched for her and left her with a big travel story to tell.
What happened, and is she all right?
Yep, she's fine, if a little shaken.
According to photos and updates she posted on her Facebook page this past weekend, the singer was checking out some sea lions and seals when she decided to try to pet one of them while also taking photos.
"Suddenly, one of them jumped out of the water so fast and impetuously that it got about one foot away from me, looked me in the eye, roared in fury and tried to bite me," she wrote.
"Everyone there screamed, including me. I was paralyzed by fear and couldn't move, I just kept eye contact with it while my brother 'Super Tony' jumped over me and literally saved my life, taking me away from the beast. We both got our hands and legs scratched by the rocks while trying to protect ourselves."
Super Tony, we owe you one.
So what might have provoked the otherwise cuddly looking animal?
Shakira thinks it might have been her BlackBerry, which the seal could have mistaken for a fish that she was trying to feed to it.
She also wrote that shortly before the beastly encounter, she was complaining to her guide that she never gets to see wild animals up close.
"Oh well, I can't say that anymore!" she wrote. "Now I'm off to see some penguins! I hope they are a bit more friendly!"
We hope so, too. Hide the BlackBerry!
Read more: http://www.eonline.com/news/ouch_shakira_attacked_by_sea_lion/294273#ixzz1mTd7mDWL
