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Up until this week pro triathlete Vasco Vilica would probably have said that Vincent Luis<\/a> or Henri Schoeman<\/a> is his biggest threat in the water. That was, until he was accosted and bitten by a seal.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Portuguese athlete, who finished second in Munich last weekend<\/a><\/strong>, was training in at Zuma Beach Malibu ahead of the next Super League race when the incident unfolded.<\/p>\n The inquisitive seal bit Vilica\u2019s arm and, despite the athlete\u2019s attempt to get it off, wouldn\u2019t let go.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just swimming in the ocean and was unlucky enough to swim towards where a seal was,\u201d Vilaca said. \u201cIt started swimming towards me and got very close and it felt like a dog smelling me.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to just slowly, without doing anything aggressive, push it away and at a certain point there was a strong wave that pushed it against me. Then I pushed it more aggressively away because it was on me and then it got scared and bit my arm and wouldn\u2019t let go.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to grab the teeth from under and open the mouth and get it away and wanted to swim away but I didn\u2019t know what to do with the seal because I thought if I let go it would bite me again.\u201d<\/p>\n Eventually a large wave dislodged the seal and Vilica was able to swim back to dry land. Once there, he was attended by lifeguards and then transferred to a medical facility for further checks.<\/p>\n As he was wearing a wetsuit, only one of the seal\u2019s teeth broke through and punctured the skin, but he also got a few cuts on his hands from trying to grab the animal\u2019s teeth and mouth to release his arm.<\/p>\n Fortunately, his wounds aren\u2019t too severe and he\u2019s been given the all clear to race at the weekend<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\nWatch: Seal bites Vasco Vilica in Malibu<\/strong><\/h2>\n