Shakira Nearly Attacked by a Sea Lion in South Africa

That might be a little too close for comfort!

Shakira is nursing a few scrapes and hailing her brother as a hero after he saved her from a wild sea lion attack in Cape Town, South Africa.

The singer and her sibling spied some of the aquatic mammals on a tour Sunday afternoon and decided to get a bit closer to take pictures.

"Suddenly, one of them jumped out of the water so fast and impetuously that it got about one foot away from me, looked me in the eye, roared in fury and tried to bite me," she wrote on Facebook. "I was paralyzed by fear and couldn't move, I just kept eye contact with it while my brother 'Super Tony' jumped over me and literally saved my life, taking me away from the beast."

Shakira believes the sea lion was confused by the shiny reflection of the Blackberry she used to take pictures. "It probably thought I was teasing it with food and then taking it away from it," she said, adding that she and Tony suffered minor scratches on nearby rocks as they tried to escape. Sea lions have interacted well with humans throughout history, and attacks are rare and usually tied to territorial aggression.

Shakira wrote that just a half hour before the incident, she had hoped to get up close and personal with some wildlife. "I was complaining to my guide Andrew that I never get to see wild animals up close on adventurous trips," she said. "Oh well, I can't say that anymore!"

Despite the scare, the star's African adventure continues. "Today with the penguins!" she wrote. "Definitely friendlier!"