Sea Lion Wanders into Wrong Neighborhood

San Francisco Chronicle

Sea lion recovering after taking a wrong turn on San Carlos streets

John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Police save a sea lion pup that stopped traffic on a busy... Police save a sea lion pup that stopped traffic on a busy...

A young, disoriented sea lion is recovering at a marine mammal sanctuary after surviving an outing on a San Carlos street Tuesday.

"We received several phone calls saying, 'Hey, there's a sea lion in the middle of the road,' " police Cmdr. Rich Cinfio said.

When officers went out to Old County Road, sure enough, there was a 3 1/2-foot-long sea lion.

Officers blocked traffic in both directions and used a large bucket to try to corral the sea lion before herding it into a dog carrier, 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 say they 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.

It's possible the sea lion has algae poisoning, which can occur when the animals come in contact with algae blooms in the water, he said.

Marine veterinarians are planning to test the sea lion for 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. It turned out Chippy had been shot, and after treatment, he was fitted with a transmitter and released at Drakes Beach.

He showed up at Pier 39 sporting his transmitter but later ditched the device - it was found at the pier - and apparently swam off.

But as for sea lions on San Carlos roadways, this is a first, Cinfio said.

"We had a new baby deer one time come into our police garage and hide underneath (a) car," Cinfio said. "We were able to reunite that one with its mother. That one had a happy ending to it, just like this."

E-mail John Coté at jcote@sfchronicle.com.