Sea lions chase away sunbathers in La Jolla cove

The animals apparently ‘just woke up and started chasing everybody’ after a woman got too close trying to take photo

A pair of sea lions can be seen chasing away sunbathers from a beach in San Diego in Southern California in a now-viral video.

On Friday, beachgoers were hounded from the small beach at La Jolla Cove and video footage posted on TikTok shows them running away as the two sea lions shuffle after them.

The animals then made their way into the water and swam away without incident.

The woman who posted the video on TikTok told NBC San Diego that the altercation took place after one person got too close to them while taking a photo as they were sleeping.

“I started recording because it was really funny to watch for me because to see all these tourists getting blown away by these giant sea lions,” Charlianne Yeyna told the outlet.

The video has been viewed almost nine million times since it was published on Saturday.

“The sea lions were sleeping and were just massive on the beach and I was just watching them and this woman got really close to them, like four feet away, and was trying to take a photo of it up close, and it just woke up and started chasing everybody,” Ms Yeyna said.

She added that she was concerned for the safety of the beachgoers as there were several signs warning visitors to give animals, such as seals and sea lions, adequate space.

“This is their natural habitat. If anything, it’s the people who are getting too close,” Kellen Clark said.

Ms Yeyna said that she’s happy her video “went viral to raise awareness of how dangerous that they can be. Like, they are still wild animals and you need to give them their space. They’re also protected. So I think that this shows that they are not to be messed with”.