The first time a California sea lion was spotted in the middle of Highway 4, between Port Alberni and Ucluelet on Dec. 29, it was a curiosity.
But since then, the animal has ended up on the highway several more times, wandering in and out of nearby Kennedy Lake, connected to the ocean by the Kennedy River.
“It’s really dangerous,” said Paul Cottrell with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. “You can imagine a 300-pound dark animal on a highway. And the animal has been coming out of the water at nighttime on Friday and Saturday.”
On Sunday, a Vancouver Aquarium marine mammal rescue team was dispatched to the area to try to find and sedate the wayward pinniped.
“This highway is foggy and rainy and a poor visual situation. So it’s something that we definitely want to avoid, and have been doing our best. It’s just been kind of …