sarita75
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Young sea lion wanders onto mean streets of San Carlos
(12-11) 14:14 PST SAN CARLOS - A juvenile sea lion stopped traffic on a busy San Carlos road this morning before police saved the pup from a potentially damaging run-in with a car, authorities said.
Motorists reported the sea mammal on the 1000 block of Old County Road about 8 a.m., police Cmdr. Rich Cinfio said. "We received several phone calls saying, 'Hey, there's a sea lion in the middle of the road,' " Cinfio said.
Officers arrived to find the 3 1/2-foot-long sea lion on the pavement. They blocked traffic in both directions, herded it into a large bucket and took it to a kennel, Cinfio said. "Of course it was frightened and wanted to get away, but it was getting away in the wrong direction," Cinfio said. "It's near railway tracks and everything else."
Police figure the sea lion, which had no visible injuries, made its way onto the street from a nearby slough or drainage creek.
Police called the Marine Mammal Center, which took the sea lion to its Sausalito animal hospital for evaluation. Wildlife experts there believe the animal is an older pup between 6 months and 1 year of age, said Jim Oswald, a spokesman at the center.
The sea lion is in good condition but disoriented, Oswald said.
It's common for marine mammals to venture into tributaries to San Francisco Bay looking for food, but not as common for them to wind up on a road, Oswald said.
"As for the reason why it came up onto the roadway, we really don't know," he said. "We don't know what caused that disorientation."
One possible cause is algae poisoning, which can occur when the animals come in contact with algae blooms in the water, he said. Marine veterinarians were planning to test the sea lion for poisoning or other ailments before returning it to the wild after any treatment, a process that could take weeks or months, Oswald said.
The sea lion's odd adventure certainly wasn't the first of its kind.
A sea lion dubbed "Chippy" was found in February 2004 more than 100 miles up the San Joaquin River near Los Banos in the heart of California farm country. Marine Mammal Center veterinarians later found a wound in the back of that sea lion's head and removed a large-caliber bullet. After treatment, Chippy was fitted with a transmitter and released at Drakes Beach. He later showed up at Pier 39 sporting his transmitter before later ditching the device - it was found at the pier - and apparently swimming off.
But as for sea lions on San Carlos roadways, this was a first, Cinfio said. "We had a new baby deer one time come into our police garage and hide underneath our car," Cinfio said. "We were able to reunite that one with its mother. That one had a happy ending to it, just like this."
(12-11) 14:14 PST SAN CARLOS - A juvenile sea lion stopped traffic on a busy San Carlos road this morning before police saved the pup from a potentially damaging run-in with a car, authorities said.
Motorists reported the sea mammal on the 1000 block of Old County Road about 8 a.m., police Cmdr. Rich Cinfio said. "We received several phone calls saying, 'Hey, there's a sea lion in the middle of the road,' " Cinfio said.
Officers arrived to find the 3 1/2-foot-long sea lion on the pavement. They blocked traffic in both directions, herded it into a large bucket and took it to a kennel, Cinfio said. "Of course it was frightened and wanted to get away, but it was getting away in the wrong direction," Cinfio said. "It's near railway tracks and everything else."
Police figure the sea lion, which had no visible injuries, made its way onto the street from a nearby slough or drainage creek.
Police called the Marine Mammal Center, which took the sea lion to its Sausalito animal hospital for evaluation. Wildlife experts there believe the animal is an older pup between 6 months and 1 year of age, said Jim Oswald, a spokesman at the center.
The sea lion is in good condition but disoriented, Oswald said.
It's common for marine mammals to venture into tributaries to San Francisco Bay looking for food, but not as common for them to wind up on a road, Oswald said.
"As for the reason why it came up onto the roadway, we really don't know," he said. "We don't know what caused that disorientation."
One possible cause is algae poisoning, which can occur when the animals come in contact with algae blooms in the water, he said. Marine veterinarians were planning to test the sea lion for poisoning or other ailments before returning it to the wild after any treatment, a process that could take weeks or months, Oswald said.
The sea lion's odd adventure certainly wasn't the first of its kind.
A sea lion dubbed "Chippy" was found in February 2004 more than 100 miles up the San Joaquin River near Los Banos in the heart of California farm country. Marine Mammal Center veterinarians later found a wound in the back of that sea lion's head and removed a large-caliber bullet. After treatment, Chippy was fitted with a transmitter and released at Drakes Beach. He later showed up at Pier 39 sporting his transmitter before later ditching the device - it was found at the pier - and apparently swimming off.
But as for sea lions on San Carlos roadways, this was a first, Cinfio said. "We had a new baby deer one time come into our police garage and hide underneath our car," Cinfio said. "We were able to reunite that one with its mother. That one had a happy ending to it, just like this."
