{"id":304060,"date":"2026-05-07T10:17:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/304060\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:17:24","slug":"chonkers-the-massive-sea-lion-draws-crowds-to-san-franciscos-pier-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/304060\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Chonkers\u2019 the massive sea lion draws crowds to San Francisco\u2019s Pier 39"},"content":{"rendered":"

AN INTREPID SEA LION nicknamed Chonkers is waddling his way into the hearts of tourists and locals who have flocked to San Francisco\u2019s Pier 39 for a glimpse of the massive pinniped.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, visitors snapped photos as the Steller sea lion flopped on the pier, surrounded by dozens of much smaller California sea lions that call the docks home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like a Volkswagen! He\u2019s so huge!\u201d said Oluwaseyi Akinbobola, a visitor from Los Angeles who had an extra half hour so she ran down to the pier for a hopeful peek of the elusive sea lion. \u201cI have heard everywhere about this big giant sea lion, and I like to look at things, so just thought I\u2019d check it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chonkers likely came from up north off the coast of Washington or Oregon and is estimated to weigh between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds (680 and 907 kilograms), said Laura Gill, public programs manager at The Marine Mammal Center in nearby Sausalito. Chonkers has been one of the few Steller sea lions to venture to the pier, which is protected from predators and crashing waves while providing a fish-filled buffet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of food in San Francisco Bay for them, so the fish, the rockfish, the anchovies, the herring, there\u2019s a lot of easy prey for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The giant sea lion, which was first spotted on the pier last month, has brought the community together, said San Francisco resident Danielle Ovadia. \u201cHe\u2019s so precious, and he\u2019s quite literally humongous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chonkers, a giant Steller sea lion, lies at center with other sea lions on a dock at Fisherman\u2019s Wharf, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Haven Daley)<\/p>\n

Sea lions have become synonymous with the popular tourist pier, but they didn\u2019t start gathering there until after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, according to the marina. One lone male was quickly joined by dozens more and by February 1990, the pinniped population had grown to more than 300.<\/p>\n

Chonkers has been spotted at the docks early in the morning but is harder to pin down during the rest of the day, Gill said. She said it is endearing to watch him try to snuggle with the regular sea lions for warmth and it will be interesting to see if other Steller sea lions follow suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s trying to fit in, but he sticks out like a sore thumb,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reporting by Janie Har and Haven Daley, The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AN INTREPID SEA LION nicknamed Chonkers is waddling his way into the hearts of tourists and locals who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2113,5167,6346,40745,109529,44604,101,1914,103,102,80082,104,106,105,7662],"class_list":["post-304060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-animals","tag-associated-press","tag-mammals","tag-marine-life","tag-marine-mammal-center","tag-pier-39","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-bay","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sea-lions","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}