Crowds are flocking to San Francisco’s Pier 39 — including some from across the country — to catch a glimpse of a rare visitor to the city: a massive sea lion.
The Steller sea lion, dubbed Chonkers, has been seen lounging among the much smaller California sea lions on the docks in recent weeks.
Steller sea lions can grow up to 11 feet long and weigh as much as 2,500 pounds, making them about twice the size of California sea lions.
“They’re so big because they dive deep and they swim in much colder waters than even here in San Francisco Bay,” Sheila Chandler, the Pier 39 harbor master, told KGO-TV. “So they need all that blubber for sure.”
She said Chonkers appears to be getting along well with his much smaller cousins.
“He’s so much bigger. He’s literally twice the size of the biggest California sea lion that you can see out there,” she said. “And he’s very mellow. It seems he’s not that vocal from what we can see in here. And he doesn’t have to go up against any of the others to prove who’s dominant. It’s sort of an implied ‘yes.'”
Visitors have been gathering at the pier every day in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Chonkers.
“I saw on the news about Chonkers in Atlanta, Georgia, and I came all the way to San Francisco to see him,” one visitor told CBS San Francisco.
