The Pacific Northwest's unruly sea lion population managed to infiltrate a back road in Washington state this week.
Yesterday, law enforcement officials responded to a report of a sea lion near Garlock Road, miles away from the Columbia River. According to a news release, the sea lion likely became landlocked after swimming up Delameter Creek from Cowlitz River, a tributary of the Columbia.
A video posted by the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Department shows Fish and Wildlife employees herding the sea lion into a relocation trailer using wooden boards as shields, while the 600 pound, carnivorous critter charges at the crowd and issues some serious side eye.
After capturing the animal, officials released it in the Columbia River.
The California sea lion population has seen a boom in recent years, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has struggled to manage the blubbery, belligerent species. Male sea lions spend most of the year on the Pacific Northwest's rocky coastlines, and within the past two decades, have managed to make it as far upstream as the Bonneville Dam.
Sea lions are federally protected, but can cause problems for local marinas and salmon populations. Oregon's port towns have long battled with the large marine mammals, who can damage docks and occasionally grab onlookers' dogs from docks.
In 2018, ODFW got permission to kill sea lions that were eating endangered steelhead crossing Willamette Falls.