Employees at Scripps Institute of Oceanography’s Marine Science Development Center received an unexpected visitor April 27. At about 7 a.m., senior lab mechanician Michael Bludworth was carrying some materials into the shop when he noticed something out of place. “I looked over and saw what I thought was a seal, but turned out to be a sea lion sitting on top of one of our dive gear carts used to transport gear down to the beach,” Bludworth said. “He started walking up the hill, and when he headed toward the shop I started recording a video.” Bludworth posted the 57-second video on Scripps Oceanography’s YouTube channel, where it generated more than 2,000 views within a week. Meanwhile, the curious guest made himself at home. “He parked himself right in front of the door, then came inside and crawled around the machine,” Bludworth said. “He wasn’t bothering anybody. We fed him some squid that we got from Birch Aquarium, which he swallowed right down. Then he passed out on the floor and napped for a few hours, waking up periodically to explore and urinate a few times.” Bludworth assumed responsibility for the sea lion’s welfare during the animal’s nearly five-hour stay at the development center. “I didn’t get much work done at all,” Bludworth said. “I just acted as a buffer between him and people and kept him out of harm’s way. We have a lot of sharp materials, so I wanted to make sure he didn’t get cut.” Bludworth called SeaWorld in the morning to request a pickup for the sea lion. “I noticed he was tagged and had a number shaved into his side,” Bludworth said. “When the SeaWorld employee came to pick him up, he said, ‘You again!’ so he had obviously seen him before.” Despite several hours out of water, the sea lion was thought to be in good health. “SeaWorld said the fact that he ate the squid was a good sign and that as long as they’re eating, they’re probably okay,” Bludworth said. The sea lion’s prolonged visit was partially due to earlier rescues that day. “The SeaWorld employee had a pup in the back of his truck who was trying to cross Prospect Street earlier that day,” Bludworth said. “They’ve gotten pretty brave around here, especially since they’ve pretty much taken over the Children’s Pool.” Bludworth has worked at the development center since 2005, but said he has not seen anything like this previously. The Marine Science Development Center has been dedicated to the design and creation of high-quality custom hardware to support academic and private sector researchers since the early days of the Scripps Institute.