A months-old Steller sea lion pup made its way from the ocean to the edge of U.S. Highway 101 south of Newport, Ore., on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. The sea lion was rescued from traffic and returned to an island off Seal Rock.
Courtesy of Greg Anderson
Greg Anderson may have had an unsuccessful fishing trip Saturday, but he did he help rescue a wayward Steller sea lion pup from disaster along U.S. Highway 101 on his way home.
Anderson planned to fish early Saturday at Olalla Reservoir near Toledo, but the gate was locked so he headed back home to Waldport. He was just past the Newport airport area about 9:30 a.m. when he spotted what looked like an injured dog alongside the highway.
“I had a sheriff’s deputy right behind me, we both spotted it and did quick U-turns,” Anderson said. “I couldn’t tell what it was at first and needed to turn around. It was a weird thing.”
Weird indeed.
What Anderson and Deputies Chris Barth and Rigo Vera found was a months-old, 50-pound Steller sea lion pup that had made its way 300 yards from the ocean, through thick brush, houses and grass to the edge of the busy highway.
The deputies looped a rope around its neck and walked it along the highway, safe from traffic. Two Oregon Coast Aquarium staffers rushed to the scene with a net and kennel, scooped up the pup and took it to Newport.
Aquarium animal care director Jim Burke said they gave the pup fluids, loaded it on an aquarium boat and took it to an island off Seal Rock where Steller sea lions hang out.
Burke said the pup was likely born this summer and was still “mom dependent.” It probably got separated from its mother Thursday during the big rain and windstorm that blew through the area, he said, and ended up three miles north of Seal Rock.
Burke said the pup was in “pretty decent” condition, given the three days without mom and being stuck on land.
“Animals can do bizarre things when we have a big low pressure system,” he said.
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