Merced County officials are scratching their heads over how a sea lion turned up in the San Joaquin Valley — about 65 miles from the ocean.
A California Highway Patrol officer received a report that the 300-pound animal was crawling in the middle of a road in Los Banos early Monday morning.
The animal didn´t appear to be injured, the officer said. The animal may have been dropped. Or, it may have made it´s way into a Los Banos canal by swimming up a river that feeds into the ocean.
The sea lion lounged in the sun on the back of a CHP patrol car this morning while CHP officers waited for marine biologists and animal control officers to arrive.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 4:31 pm