For San Francisco tourists, Aquatic Park Cove is one of the city’s most iconic areas, a popular spot to watch enormous sea lions and harbor seals frolicking in the water across from Ghirardelli Square.
For locals – or those who can brave the brisk waters, in any case – the cove is known as one of the best places for an open-water swim, especially favoured by triathletes.
But last week, the cove’s most prominent features clashed in a harrowing manner, when “aggressive” marine mammals attacked three swimmers in the span of about five days, officials said.
The incidents prompted the National Park Service, which runs the cove, to temporarily ban swimming there over the weekend. On Friday, Park Service workers posted signs around the water that warned of the recent attacks: “Danger. Aquatic Park Cove Closed for Swimming Due to Multiple Marine Animal Bites.”
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