Officer Roger Pereira has experienced his share of unusual workdays, but on Tuesday morning he received a call that completely caught him off guard. On the congested US-101 just south of San Francisco, the smallest offender was causing traffic to slow down.
He was certain that it had to be some type of joke or error. Pereira told The Dodo, “I was dubious there would be a genuine sea lion on the road. Sure enough, a newborn sea lion was on the road when we arrived at the site.
The 10-month-old sea lion was being guarded by a few Good Samaritans, who had pulled over to help the little animal. “They were standing next to it making sure it did not walk into the lanes of traffic,” Pereira said. “I was in shock and could not believe my eyes that I was actually looking at a sea lion on such a busy freeway.”
Clearly far from home, the 30-pound sea lion had no idea he was interrupting people’s morning commute. Instead, he seemed to be taking in the new experience with a childlike sense of wonder.
“Even with all the loud noise of vehicles passing by and all the people around him, the sea lion was very calm and curious about what was going on,” Pereira said.
Officer Pereira was forced to make the errant marine animal an arrest, but he chose against using handcuffs. He opened the passenger door of his police car after parking it close to the sea lion.
The sea lion voluntarily surrendered. The sea lion leapt into the back seat of the police car as soon as the door opened, according to Pereira, “without needing any kind of stimulus.”
Once more, the young sea lion appeared to be completely fascinated by the novel situation. It’s possible that his curiosity was what first led him into trouble.
The sea lion enjoyed the ride, according to Pereira. It did not make any noises or move in an erratically while inside the patrol car. The marine lion conducted himself admirably.
Look who the CHP FOUND ON highway 101. pic.twitter.com/xGzkIGNTQ0
— Amy Hollyfield (@amyhollyfield) April 30, 2019
Pereira dropped the sea lion at the nearby Peninsula SPCA in case the animal needed immediate care, letting him off with just a warning.
The sea lion was then transferred to The Marine Mammal Rescue Center, where an examination revealed him to be healthy besides slight malnutrition and a minor cut to his flipper.
Dr. Cara Field, a staff veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center, told Patch that the youngster probably been separated from his mother too soon and wasn’t nearly able to feed correctly on his own. Despite being underweight, the sea lion youngster is quite spirited and energetic, so with prompt supportive treatment, we are optimistic that he will fully recover.
The sea lion will hopefully be able to be put back into the wild in the future, as far away from morning traffic as possible.
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