'We Card Everyone' -- Even Sea Lions -- in Newport Beach Bar

By AUTUMN JOHNSON

You don’t see this everyday – a sea lion in a bar. No mackerel martinis for this thirsty little pinniped, though. He was probably looking for food. According to Mike Glenn’s Save Newport Facebook page, the wayward pup wandered into the Beach Ball bar in Newport Beach on May 12.

Glenn says the sea lion is being fed and nursed back to health after officials from Pacific Marine Mammal Center came to his rescue. Rescuers have nicknamed him “Beach Ball.”

This is not the first case of a sea lion ending up far from its proper habitat. In the last few months, several pinnipeds have been found throughout the state in some unexpected areas. In Northern California last month, Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies spotted a small animal moving slowly down a road and stopped to help. Turns out, it was a wayward sea lion pup. They were concerned it would be hit by a passing car in the dark, especially with dense fog in the area, so they gave it a lift.

On the opposite end of the state, in early April, a baby sea lion that wandered away from the Imperial Beach shoreline and somehow clambered five blocks to Mar Vista High School was taken into custody without incident but with a lot of cuteness. And although it was not discovered on terra firma, a sea lion decided to surf in La Jolla, while another took a quick snooze during an impromptu sleepover on boat in San Diego.

Read those stray sea lion stories here:

• Buckle Up for Safety! Sea Lion Pup Gets a Ride
• Sea Lion Baby Caught Web Handed 5 Blocks From Beach
• Baby Sea Lion Hangs 10, Well, Hangs With Surfer North of La Jolla
• Watch! Sea Lion Pup Has Sleepover on San Diego Yacht, Coaxed Off

Although it may be cute to find these curious creatures in unexpected places, the sea lion crisis along the California coast is real. The number of rescued animals in 2015 has topped 1,200, according to NOAA. And the situation is likely to get worse. The past two years, the stranding of sea lion pups by their mothers peaked in March and April.

Some pups that aren’t abandoned are striking out on their own to find food. Sea lion mothers typically leave their pups on the Channel Islands while they find food, as far north as Monterey Bay, returning in about two days to feed their pups. But sea lions are taking longer to find adequate food supplies, leaving the pups for up to five days. Some returning mothers aren’t able to find their pups because they’ve left.

Wendy Hawkins, the founder of HB Marine Mammal Safety Team, says the most important thing to remember about sea lions is that they are usually in distress and they can bite. Hawkins urges anyone who finds a sea lion to call the proper marine mammal experts for help.

Hawkins says the babies, like Beach Ball, who is believed to be about six months old, generally nurse for a year to 18 months and cannot eat fish.

“Don’t feed the, don’t put water on them, don’t touch them,” Hawkins said. “They are already in distress and it is very traumatizing to them. People can be fined $10,000 for disturbing a sea lion.”

Beach Ball will be fed by tube for about two more months, according to Hawkins.

“We are here to educate people,” Hawkins said. “We want to keep the sea lion safe from people and people safe from the sea lions.”

If you see a sea lion or other marine mammal in distress, phone the nearest marine mammal rescue center:

• The Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Laguna Beach, 949 494 3050
• The Marine Mammal Care Center, San Pedro, 800 399 4253
• California Wildlife Center, Malibu, 310 458 9453
• Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute, Ventura, 805 567 1505
• Northern California, The Marine Mammal Center (415) 289 SEAL

Patch Editors Bea Karnes and Mirna Alfonso contributed to this report.

Photo used with permission, courtesy Mike Glenn’s Save Newport Facebook page.

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