What began as a peaceful swim for instructor Lynette Bellin at Lake Tahoe quickly became an experience she says she will never forget. On August 30, Bellin was swimming on the Nevada side of the lake when she suddenly felt something grab her leg and pull her underwater.
She soon realized an otter was responsible, and the animal continued following her as she tried to reach safety. Bellin managed to climb onto a rock, but the otter continued coming toward her before she eventually made it back onto dry land.
By then, she had multiple injuries to her face, arms, legs and feet. First responders took her to a hospital, where she received rabies shots and required 38 stitches. A fundraiser was later created to help her during what is expected to be a weeks-long recovery. Wildlife officials said encounters like this are very uncommon, although North American river otters are becoming more common throughout the Tahoe basin.
Despite the frightening experience, Bellin says she does not intend to give up swimming. She believes the encounter may have happened because the otter was protecting its young, and she plans to return to the water once her injuries have healed, although she joked that she may choose different beaches.
Bellin has also used the attention surrounding her experience to share a message she considers more important than the attack itself: learning to swim is a critical life skill. As a swimming instructor, she explained that her ability to remain calm in the water and control her breathing helped her escape when the situation became dangerous. She encouraged parents to give children plenty of opportunities to become confident and capable swimmers from a young age. For Bellin, the painful experience became a reminder that preparation and water safety can make an enormous difference when the unexpected happens.