A gregarious baby sea lion jumped into a UCLA rowboat, delighting the crew as he bumped into some athletes.
But experts revealed that the young sea lion did this for a heartbreaking reason: he was severely malnourished.
Logan Hibbard, a sophomore at UCLA, was practicing her rowing early in the morning at the Marina del Ray when the sea lion jumped out of the water and into her boat.
“A sea lion jumped onto the bow deck of one of our boats and just swam around to the boat I was in,” Hibbard said KTVU.
Logan Hibbard, a sophomore at UCLA, was practicing her rowing early in the morning at the Marina del Ray when the sea lion jumped out of the water and into her boat
Experts revealed that the young sea lion did this for a heartbreaking reason: he was severely malnourished
‘I thought if I stayed calm it would calm him down. And so we just kind of had an understanding with each other,” Hibbard said of her connection with the sea lion
Despite the surprise, the second-year athlete was not afraid.
“Honestly, I tried to be very calm,” she said. “It was just a baby sea lion. He was really friendly.’
Hibbard continued, “I thought if I stayed calm it would calm him down. And so we just kind of had an understanding with each other.”
While the sea lion was in the boat, Hibbard’s teammates quickly snapped a few photos.
The photos show the sea lion pressing against Hibbard in the boat.
In another photo, the creature appeared drowsy and about to fall asleep.
The sea lion nuzzled Hibbard’s legs, where he soon fell asleep
The rowers named the animal ‘Bru.’ John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center, said the crew saved the sea lion’s life by keeping him in the boat
Inspired by the UCLA Bruins, the crew team named the creature “Bru.”
At one point during her encounter with “Bru,” Hibbard tried to pet the sea lion.
“I didn’t really like it,” she noted. “So I quit.”
Soon the crew realized that something was wrong with ‘Bru’, who was now resting on Hibbard’s lap.
The carriages wrapped the sea lion in towels and then brought him to shore.
Hibbard and the other rowers contacted the Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles, where authorities rushed ‘Bru’ so the creature could recover.
According to the center’s CEO, John Warner, who spoke with McClatchy Newsthe baby sea lion was ‘desperate’.
He explained that he would have snuggled up to Hibbard for warmth; the cold water had made his skeleton hypothermic.
‘An animal that comes onto a platform with people standing on it is not natural. They don’t seek out people.’
‘I would like to compliment the rowers for not pushing the animal back into the water; that would probably have been a death sentence for the animal,” he continued.
The baby sea lion is probably between nine and eleven months old. It is approximately the same size as at birth
Warner estimated the sea lion’s age to be somewhere between nine and 11 months old. He said the animal appeared to be about the same size as it was at birth.
“That’s the alarming part of his health condition,” the sea lion expert said. “It should be about three to four times as big as it is now.”
Hibbard said KCBS that she would like ‘Bru’ to fully rehabilitate.
“I just hope that he can eventually make a full recovery and hopefully get back to where he belongs and continue swimming and practicing with us in Marina Del Rey.”