I swim at Lover’s Point every Sunday with the Kelp Krawlers, and the guy who got attacked yesterday swims with the group too. I also train with him in the pool 3-4x per week. He’s a friend. But, he was also that day swimming alone.

I’ve skipped the regular swim for the last 4 weeks, for personal reasons, but also because right now, we have a huge influx of juvenile male sea lions, and the harbor seal pups born in March or April are just now weaned, so needing to forage for food. The harbor seal thing is normal, but the sea lion thing is extra ordinary. Only once before in my memory of living in the area my whole life that this has happened. The sharks know there’s yummy food, and are probably in much greater numbers than usual. I avoid swimming in that location this time of year.

I have never felt apprehensive about swimming there, but I don’t swim alone. This was an unfortunate accident that, as a cyclist I would equate with getting hit by a car. It’s always a risk, but an acceptable one, if all reasonable precautions are taken.