A Valentine’s Day paddle off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, turned extra special for an Orange County family Saturday, when a California sea lion pup hopped aboard the back of the kayak and joined the family for its ride.
“At first it felt like he was pushing the kayak. We felt him back there,” Rodney Gist, who was paddling with two of his kids near Sterns Wharf, told KTLA. “Next thing you know, I could tell he had climbed aboard.”
Rodney’s wife was on another kayak and was initially concerned, as was Rodney, but the sea lion seemed simply to be looking for a place to rest.
(Sea lions have been having trouble finding food off the California coast during the past several months because of an ongoing warm-water event that has displaced baitfish populations, and many undernourished sea lions have been spotted hauled out on the shoreline.)
A crowd gathered to watch the sea lion on the kayak, and at one point the tiny pinniped seemed to kiss the back of Rodney’s head.
“I could tell he was kind of playful like a dog,” he told KTLA.
Joe Buttitta, a morning anchor for KEYT, was present and posted photos and video on Twitter.
Gist’s daughter, Lee Lee, said she was glad the event was captured on video; otherwise, her friends might not have believed the story.
The Gists, who were visiting from Fullerton, California, named the sea lion “Cecil.”