LOS ANGELES — Phoebe Beltran, 15, has always been a "water baby," according to her mom, Bibi Beltran.
She has always had a love for swimming, she told ABC News, which was why she decided to participate in a junior lifeguard cadet program in Long Beach, California, on March 30.
In the middle of competing in the 1,000-yard swim test, she felt pain in her right arm.
"My initial reaction was, 'I'm getting eaten in the middle of the water, it's a shark, I'm going to die,'" Phoebe Beltran told ABC News.
Phoebe Beltran immediately screamed for help, which is when the animal -- she later found out was a sea lion -- let go of her arm.
She was assisted back to the shore and a lifeguard boat patrolling the water brought all the other swimmers to safety, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.
"As I was getting up onto shore, that's when I stood up, the lifeguards saw that my arm was bleeding, they took me to the sand and started fixing me up before sending me to the ER," Phoebe Beltran said.
Her mom heard the screams, but didn't think it was her daughter until she saw her arm gushing with blood.
"I don't have the words to explain the panic in a mom's heart when they see their child like that," Bibi Beltran said. "It was a rollercoaster of emotions."
Phoebe Beltran had bites "localized to her arms and extremities" and was taken to the local hospital, but "did not require advanced treatment," officials said.
She later found out the lifeguards determined the animal that attacked her was a sea lion.
Phoebe Beltran said she did not do "anything that provoked" the sea lion and she would not have swum next to it if she had seen the animal.
"It came out of nowhere, I was surprised by it and so were other people," Phoebe Beltran said.
This incident comes after sea lions on the California coast have reportedly been displaying strange behavior, likely due to a harmful algae bloom impacting the region, according to marine researchers.
The sea lions are likely being poisoned by domoic acid, a neurotoxin within the algae blooms, which they ingest through the fish they eat, according to marine experts. Ingesting domoic acid can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans and marine mammals, according to the Marine Mammal Care Center.
"Instances of bites are quite a rare occurrence, but it is important for the public to maintain a distance of 150 feet from sea lions and other marine life on local beaches, exit the water immediately if approached by a marine mammal (do not engage) and call trained wildlife first responders if there appears to be a marine mammal in distress," the center said in a statement to ABC News.
Justin Viezbicke, the California Stranding Coordinator for National Marine Fisheries Service, told ABC News that sea lions are not typically aggressive creatures and would normally "just run away" at the sight of humans, not attack.
"With this domoic acid poisoning, for some reason, it's changing something in them that does create a situation where the sea lions have reacted, and that reaction has been either to bite or to chase after people or to exhibit behaviors that we would consider not normal," Viezbicke said.
Common symptoms for domoic acid poisoning include lethargy, seizures, a bobbing and weaving of their heads and in some cases, aggression, Viezbicke said.
"Normal behavior is that they're alert and aware of you," Viezbicke said. "Oftentimes, with domoic acid, that awareness is really not there until you may be getting too close."
Officials said the sea lion that attacked Phoebe Beltran had "no evidence" of being sick, just appearing to be aggressive. After the attack, the animal "left immediately and swam back out in the ocean," the fire department said.
However, Phoebe Beltran still thinks this animal was ill.
"Knowing it happened out of nowhere, I deeply feel like it had something with it being sick," Phoebe Beltran said. "It's sad they weren't able to catch it to help it and bring it back to its health, but hopefully it's doing better on its own."
Phoebe Beltran said her pain is "manageable," but the emotional trauma from the incident is something she still struggles with.
"The physical wounds don't seem that bad, but what happened took a toll on me mentally, so it's just something I am working on getting over," Phoebe Beltran told ABC News.
Despite the attack, Phoebe Beltran said she still plans on getting back in the water once she is completely healed, competing again for the junior lifeguard program and pursuing a career focusing on marine life.
"I came out really lucky to have my arm, it's still working, it's just scratches. [I hope people can] be more aware of what's going on in the water, not to blame it on the sea animals at all," Phoebe Beltran said.
ABC News' Julia Jacobo contributed to this report.