Some San Francisco residents in the Outer Sunset district woke to flashing lights and officers early Thursday morning after a sea lion wandered onto a city street.
Caught on camera at 48th Avenue and Irving Street, the animal was surrounded as officers and park rangers worked to corral it. “Wasn’t an arrest, exactly, but the police officers were trying to get a California sea lion in custody,” said Tamara Barak Aparton, a San Francisco Parks & Recreation spokesperson. “It had wandered out of the ocean and onto the city street.”
Officials found a dog crate large enough for the pup and took it to the bike storage area at a nearby ranger station until the Marine Mammal Center could pick it up. “We are all rooting for him,” Barak Aparton said. The center has named the animal Irving but has not yet determined its sex or whether it is ill.
Daniel Costa, a UC Santa Cruz ecology professor who has studied sea lions worldwide, said the animal looks like a healthy sea lion pup at first glance. “Sea lions are probably losing a little bit of their fear of people as they get more accustomed to us,” he said, calling many so-friendly animals “sea dogs” because they are energetic and food-motivated, “kind of like a Husky or an Irish Setter.”
Costa warned people not to approach wild sea lions: they usually flee but can bite if cornered and have very sharp teeth. He said domoic acid poisoning is a possibility in some strandings but also suggested that growing populations and limited habitat may lead animals to explore urban areas. Authorities hope Irving will be treated if necessary and released back into the Pacific soon.