Sea Dog Road Rage Off La Jolla, 7/3

[LJ H2Oman]

Shortly after 6:00 yesterday I spotted either a mature seal or a small sea lion on the surface about 50 yards ahead of me and maybe 200 yards south of Scripps Pier as I headed up to make bait. It submerged and a short time later launched itself airborn striking a hard glancing blow off the bow of my kayak as it came up out of the water. It flew past me fully airborne at close quarters and was gone before I could grab my gaff to fight it off or otherwise react. It's ok with me that it didn't stick around to swap insurance information ;-)

Have any of you heard of or encountered anything similar, being rammed by a dog? I had no fish or bait aboard. Maybe this was a random collision, but the water was clear and we all know these dogs aren't blind. I've spent a ton of time ocean swimming off the Cove, surfing and kayaking off La Jolla for over 40 years and am at a loss to conclude if this was some kind of intentional aggressive behavior, rough playfulness, or a random collision.