A Steller sea lion, who has been dubbed Chonkers, towers over a group of California sea lions by Pier 39 in San Francisco. The giant pinnipeds are rare visitors to the city.
Courtesy of Pier 39
It’s a slow Wednesday morning on the Embarcadero, but the waterfront at Pier 39 carries the mood of a red carpet moments before Zendaya’s arrival. A hundred locals and tourists stand with cameras and selfie sticks at the ready. A French couple chats excitedly.
“Où est Chonkers? Où est Chonkers?
In San Francisco right now, the “A” in A-list stands for “Animal.” And the animal in question is Chonkers, a husky 2,000-pound Steller sea lion who has been entertaining growing crowds at the waterfront for two months and counting.
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The massive pinniped towers over his California sea lion compatriots at Pier 39. And he’s a bit elusive — I went 0-for-2 trying to catch him this week — which only adds to the mystique.
“He’s an early riser,” said Andrea Jesson, a Marine Mammal Center volunteer who arrived with a camera, hoping to catch the city’s celebrity of the moment, who has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal and written up in USA Today. “Maybe he’ll show up in the evening or early afternoon.”
The Steller sea lion nicknamed Chonkers is seen at Pier 39.
Courtesy of Pier 39
The Bay Area isn’t the only media market to embrace an animal story. We just do it better than everyone else. Pop quiz: What is the name of the lieutenant governor of California? Now tell me the name of the turkey that terrorized citizens near the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland in 2020? If you answered “Hell if I know” and “Gerald,” you’re in the right place.
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(Apologies to the honorable Eleni Kounalakis. You should have been born an African penguin.)
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Wild parrots roost in a tree above Ina Coolbrith Park in San Francisco, with the Transamerica Pyramid visible in the background.
Anna Connors/S.F. Chronicle
Whenever we obsess over an “it” animal, I think about Humphrey. The humpback whale who entered the bay in 1985 and meandered through the delta and up the Sacramento River to Rio Vista sparked daily front-page Chronicle stories and a Bay Area-wide brainstorming session on how to lure Humphrey back to the open ocean.
After weeks of people banging steel pipes together, imitating orcas and playing humpback feeding sounds to urge the whale to safety, Humphrey reached the Pacific again, passing under the Golden Gate Bridge and spouting one more time before disappearing in the fog.
“Hundreds of cars double-parked at Fort Point, and people rushed through thick fog to catch a final glimpse of Humphrey and hear his final salute,” the Chronicle reported. “Motorists stopped on the Golden Gate Bridge and rush-hour traffic ground to a halt on the Marina Green.”
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It sounds like an excessive response for an animal with atrocious navigation issues. (The celebrity whale reentered the San Francisco Bay in 1990. Get it together, Humphrey!) But it’s part of what I love about the Bay Area. Forty years later, we continue to talk about the rescue of this wayward whale like a Super Bowl win. You can still order a “Humphrey Special” at the Pizza Factory on Main Street in Rio Vista. As I type this, more than 750 people have voted to name a ferry after him.
Humphrey the humpback whale, who had swum up to Rio Vista in 1985, returned to San Francisco Bay in October 1990 and beached himself in shallow water just south of Candlestick Point.
Michael Maloney/The Chronicle
At the root of this kookiness, I believe, is a community filled with empathy and understanding.
In that way, Chonkers is the perfect Bay Area avatar. (Reports from the last 24 hours suggest he may have a Steller friend.) He’s big and bold and not afraid to throw his weight around. He’s different, but not insecure about it. He’s new, but fits right in. And in a city that takes itself so seriously, this plus-size sea lion is pure levity.
“There’s so much depressing news,” Pier 39 spokeswoman Sue Muzzin said. “Chonkers is something that’s fun and can lighten the load a little bit.”
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I worry with every wayward animal story that we’re giving the slow-news-day Ron Burgundy treatment to a behavior that’s influenced by climate change or other human-related factors. When I spoke to Jesson from the Marine Mammal Center, I had to specify which celebrity sea lion I was writing about. The Sausalito-based center also recently rescued a stranded sea lion pup in the Outer Sunset.
But Chonkers’ extended visit — he arrived the first week of March — doesn’t seem to be a cause for alarm. Steller sea lions are more common in Alaska, British Columbia and Washington, but they do live this far south. Muzzin said Chonkers has been here before, stopping by Pier 39 for a day or two in previous years.
Chonkers, a Steller sea lion, is pictured in March gazing off the edge of the dock at Pier 39. He’s estimated to weigh about 2,000 pounds and has been drawing crowds to the waterfront.
Courtesy of Pier 39
I thought a lot about our odd relationship to animals three years ago when a Chronicle project resulted in the wild parrots becoming the official animal of San Francisco.
There was some low-grade complaining on social media because we weren’t covering an important San Francisco story. I wholeheartedly disagree. These accidental transplants remind us that belonging should never be measured by how many generations your family has resided in San Francisco, but on how well you let your colors fly, share what makes you special and inspire others to do the same.
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“I really do think it is important as city leaders to remind people that we can debate public policy, we can take seriously the serious problems, and we can celebrate the blessings of our city,” Supervisor Matt Dorsey said when the parrots became official.
This Steller sea lion is a blessing of our city. Animal stories, and our over-the-top love for them, are a blessing of our city.
Stay as long as you want, Chonkers. You’re one of us.