PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A sea lion gave the Lincoln City Police Department some trouble Friday evening after it made its way into the roadway of a neighborhood and refused to move.
Officers responded to the sea lion shortly before 5:30 p.m. and set up a perimeter around it to prevent the animal from getting hurt. At this point, officers say they gave the sea lion the name “Tiffany.”
According to police, Tiffany did not want to get off the road as she made her way closer to Highway 101.
Officers called Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife and North Lincoln Fire and Rescue, but even the Oregon State Police sergeant said this was a first for him.
Together, the agencies tried several strategies over the next couple hours, but little progress was made. Eventually, they came up with a plan to bait Tiffany back to the river. An officer went to a local grocery store in Taft and returned with some fish.
Firefighters retrieved plywood boards and used the wood to corral the sea lion as she chased the fish bait closer to the officers’ desired destination.
Police said the plan worked and Tiffany moved the direction they needed her to. The first responders doused her with water from garden hoses a few times to make sure she stayed cool and wet and she was eventually guided to an opening that led down to the Siletz River.
The sea lion settled happily in a small stream and seemed content to wait until the tide came in and the water level raised, police said.