Sea lion reappears at 28th Street Jetty...

Sea lion reappears

at 28th Street Jetty

A big bull sea lion that has been making recurring appearances on

the beach and rocks near the 28th Street Jetty in Newport Beach

showed up again Saturday afternoon.

The sea lion waddled up to the rocks around 3:20 p.m. and caused

the usual buzz as onlookers clamored to get close to him, said Lt.

Dave Wenger with the Newport Beach Lifeguard Department.

Unfortunately, sea lions are not as cute as they seem, especially

this one, which weighs in excess of 300 pounds, Wenger said.

“We have had a history of sea lions occasionally because they get

trapped ... from the water and [they] can bite people and people

don’t realize it because they think they’re so cute,” Wenger said.

Two weekends ago, the same sea lion was bold enough to saunter

onto the beach, Wenger said.

“Once that animal gets spooked or decides it wants to move, it can

move really fast and when you have a circle of people around it, the

people who are in the inner circle start to run and they can’t.”

Left in isolation on the rocks Saturday, the sea lion stayed on

the jetty for a few more hours and then returned home to the ocean,

Wenger said.

Eric Metz, of the Newport Beach Police Department’s Animal Control

division, said the huge sea lion has been coming up on the beach for

the past three to four weeks.