Sea lions are taking over roadways across California and police are trying to move them along.
The California Highway Patrol used car sirens to move sea lions off a roadway near a Monterey Bay marina on Sunday, Oct. 11, Monterey Bay resident Evan Brodsky told USA TODAY.
"I know people who aren't used to them think they're cute, but they are mean and vicious animals," Brodsky said of California sea lions. "They're closest land relative is a grizzly bear." Sea lions are often called the "grizzly bears" of the ocean because the animals are of the same mammalian order, Carnivora, and have nearly indistinguishable skulls, according to Alaska's Ketchikan Museums.
Brodsky said that after officers cleared out the "hundreds" of sea lions from the roadway
on Oct. 11, many were back within five minutes. He described the song and dance as a "never-ending cycle."
Last week's sea lion sighting wasn't the first. On Sept. 24, the California Highway Patrol shared photos to Facebook of sea lions in the roadway at Moss Landing on Monterey Bay, about 25 miles south of Santa Cruz.
USA TODAY reached out to the California Highway Patrol for more information on Oct. 15.
See police roust colony of sea lions from California roadway
California sea lions can be aggressive
According to the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, during breeding season, male California sea lions can become aggressive as they defend their territories, and females may fight with one another to protect their pups. However, the breeding season for these sea lions is in late June through early July, not September or October.
California sea lions tend to be "very skittish" around humans and will run into water if they see or smell people, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Brodsky recommended onlookers keep at least 50 feet away when taking photos or videos.
Californians ask for stricter protections for sea lions
Videos of sea lions flooding roadways come at the same time as the City of San Diego and California Coastal Commission plead with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect the creatures at La Jolla Cove in San Diego, where recent incidents of people harassing the sea lions have gone viral on social media.
During a California Coastal Commission meeting on Oct. 8, several community members asked the commission to consider setting stricter guidance, like municipal ordinances that would enforce strict beach boundaries that would give park rangers the authority to write citations for those who break them.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Officers try to clear 'hundreds' of sea lions from California road
