Wayward Sea Lion Found On Oakland Airport Grounds
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Deputies with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department intercepted an unusual intruder at the Oakland Airport early Thursday morning: a young wayward sea lion.
The Alameda County Sheriff's Twitter account posted video of the flippered infiltrator at about 6:40 a.m. Thursday, joking that the little sea lion was probably looking to board "a flight to Hawaii" for the holidays.
The post said that deputies were able to herd the cooperative young sea mammal back into San Francisco Bay waters fairly easily, but posted a follow-up message shortly after 9 a.m. that the sea lion had returned. Deputies put a call in to the experts at the Marine Mammal Center to get the sea lion evaluated and safely returned to the water.
Officials with Mammal Center confirmed that the young sea lion had been brought to their Sausalito facility.
The mammal, named "Cruizin" by his rescuers, is being kept at the Intensive Care Unit holding pen at the Marine Mammal Center's hospital. Cruizin is set to undergo a full examination on Friday to determine age, sex and any potential ailments.
"The sea lion will stay in the holding pen until Center experts are comfortable moving the animal into a standard rehabilitation pool pen to continue its rehabilitation treatment," said Giancarlo Rulli with the Center.
