SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — San Diego chillest sea lion was relaxing in a safer spot Tuesday. The adorable animal brought traffic to a standstill in Point Loma on Monday as she rolled around on Rosecrans Street.
A day later the large sea lion was looking good.
"She is quite active and, so far, is looking like she is doing OK,” said Heather Armentrout, SeaWorld Animal Care Specialist. “She looks pretty alert and her body condition looks good. We got a weight on her, she is 78.5 kilograms."
That's about 160 pounds that was spotted stopping traffic Monday afternoon as the wayward sea lion made her way across busy Rosecrans Street.
Just blocks away from the water, residents and police were puzzled why she was out on the road alone.
"She got to Rosecrans, and a lot of people were concerned so they were trying to stop the traffic,” said witness Chris Burt.
Rescuers used nets to save the sea lion and get her examined at SeaWorld by specialists.
"She started eating this morning as well, so she ate both live and fresh frozen fish, which is also a great sign,” said Armentrout.
Appearing healthy as can be, it's still unclear why the sea lion left her home in the ocean for the crowded streets.
"We do want to make sure that there is nothing wrong with her but because she did cross the street,” said Armentrout. “She was very close to the water when we got initial reports about her and she went the opposite way, which is pretty unusual for a sea lion."
The unusual behavior Monday got the big girl her own private pool Tuesday with around-the-clock care and space.
The SeaWorld team believes she may have taken a huge fall Monday.
“Some of the initial reports that we got yesterday from the public were that she was at a hotel and had climbed up a veranda or something of that nature and had actually climbed up and over it - then had fallen off of that,” said Armentrout. “So that is something that we're definitely keeping a close eye on.”
See below for pictures of the sea lion courtesy of SeaWorld San Diego.
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