Sea Lion Waddles Into IB Chamber Office

OUTSIDE SAN DIEGO, CA -- A receptionist at the Imperial Beach Chamber of Commerce was sitting at her desk around noon Wednesday when she looked up from her computer and saw a sea lion.

"I was just sitting here and heard some shuffling on the porch. I thought it was an old man or something but there he was," said Office Assistant Kathy Wakefield.

Imperial Beach Animal Control and lifeguards arrived less than an hour later to retrieve the sea lion, Wakefield said. In fear that the sea lion would make his way to nearby Seacoast Drive and be hit by a car, Executive Assistant Cynthia Fulks closed the door of the 805 Ocean Ln. office until Animal Control arrived.

"When they put the rope around him, he was obviously attacked by something. There was blood everywhere," Wakefield said.

The handler who picked up the sea lion told Fulks that according to the tag on the animal that it had been released into the ocean two days ago after being picked up earlier this year and nursed back to health. The bleeding may have been the result of some sort of scabs or sickness.

In another case of an out-of-place marine mammal, a young sea lion made his way into a La Jolla hotel in March.

Roughly 30 sea lions have been picked up in IB this year since the end of March, according to lifeguard Captain Robert Stabenow.

Dehydrated and emaciated young sea lions have come ashore in unusually high numbers throughout Southern California since the start of the year.

Last month the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries declared an Unusual Mortality Event in Southern California for California Sea Lions. A working group has been assembled to investigate the occurance.

As of April 14, 322 stranded sea lion were rescued in San Diego since Jan. 1, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

From 2008 to 2012, an average of about 46 sea lions were rescued in San Diego County.