Seal Attacks Shakira In South Africa

Latin pop singer Shakira was “paralyzed with fear” after a seal lunged for her BlackBerry when she holidayed in Cape Town, South Africa, she recounted on Facebook.

The Register reports that the animal appeared to have mistaken the BlackBerry for a fish, Shakira explained, and lunged for her while she was taking pictures of it on the phone.

“I believe what happened is that it confused the shiny reflection of the blackberry I was taking these pics with, with some sort of fish,” the singer wrote in the Facebook post Special Report: Attacked by a Sea Lion. “It probably thought I was teasing it with food and then taking it away from it.”

“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. Everyone there screamed, including me. I was paralyzed by fear and couldn’t move.”

Shakira’s life was “literally” saved, though she did sustain minor injuries.

“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,” the singer posted.

Shakira explains that she had tried to get closer to the seals because she thought they were cute.