Loulou Taylor, an actress from the show “Raised By Wolves,” was hospitalized after a baby seal mauled her Wednesday in South Africa.
Taylor was one of two victims of the baby seal, which bit her at least six times while she was visiting her native South Africa and taking a dip at Clifton beach near Cape Town, according to The Citizen. The other was a young boy, whom the seal attacked before heading for Taylor as she swam further offshore.
Horrifying footage from the attack was shared across social media, showing the young boy getting attacked first as men rushed in to save him, before the seal went for the actress. Another beach goer can then be seen running into the water, grabbing the baby seal, holding it above the water, and then tossing it back in once everyone is out of harm’s way.
Not a Namibian seal attacking a kid and an American actress #LoulouTaylor at #Clifton 4th Beach, Cape Town. pic.twitter.com/YcPCZlc6RX
— Mongezi (@MongeziMcobothi) January 5, 2023
The actress was rushed to the ER. She shared the ordeal on her Instagram page, saying she was prescribed strong antibiotics for the wounds, The Citizen continued. She later posted that she had heard that seal attacks are on the rise due to algal blooms in the area.
Algal blooms are defined as large concentrations of various aquatic microorganisms, typically caused by the high prevalence of easterly winds along the coast of the country, according to Ocean Adventures. (RELATED: Chef Gordon Ramsay Picked A Lamb Out For Slaughter And The Internet Lost Its Mind)
The footage also suggests that the seal was either left on the beach by its mother while she hunted, as is the norm for seal pups, or had recently been weaned and left to fend for itself, as is typical within the species, according to Oregon State University.