It’s not every day you head to your car and find a giant sea lion taking a snooze on the hood.
Well, if you are anywhere near Punta del Este in Uruguay, you might just encounter this slippery situation.
There is one sea lion in particular who seems to get away with these types of shenanigans all the time and the locals have dubbed him, Roberto.
In a viral video, Roberto takes center stage as he lounges on top of a convertible parked in a parking garage near the port.
There are always a large number of sea lions at this port and even though they might be used to seeing people, the local authorities still advise people not to get too close.
But Roberto doesn’t always leave them with much choice.
Most of the time, the sea lions don’t leave the port limits, but this is Roberto we are talking about.
This 12-year-old sea lion weighs in at 600lbs (300 kg).
The video explains that the adventurous sea lion left the port, crossed the street, and decided to lay on the convertible. Even though the car was dented on one side, he got comfortable on the hood.
Richard Tesore, the Director of the SOS Marina Fauna Center, was called in to help lure Roberto back to port.
But how was Tesore going to do that? By offering him fish, of course.
It is Roberto’s (and likely every other sea lion’s) favorite snack, after all.
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Tesore says that ‘when the water level rises in the port, the sea lions don’t have anywhere to rest so they will leave their area in search of other places to lay.’ – YouTube – 2bacalhaus.
Because he was in the area rescuing Magellanic Penguins on the Uruguayan coast, Tesore was chosen to help Roberto get home safely. What a day on the job!
Roberto is sort of a legend in the area and all the fishermen know him.
The sea lion is known for doing some crazy things and he isn’t afraid of pushing the limits.
Tesore said that Roberto is by far the most daring and not at all fearful of people.
In the video, Tesore coaxes Roberto off the convertible and continues to feed him fish as he follows him down the road.
Roberto agrees happily and without hesitation.
I guess he believes some things are worth waking up for.
As they continue walking along the street, people gather to take pictures of the big guy.
Roberto’s size may look intimidating but from the video, but we can tell he is just a big softy at heart.
He eventually makes it to the port where he gets his last fish treat.
There is another sea lion there to greet him and welcome him back to port.
After returning to port, Roberto decided it was time for another adventure.
“We took him to the port but he came back so we ended up having lunch with him at a restaurant in the port. He is like a dog with fins. He settled down and went to sleep.” – Tesore
See this gentle giant hilariously haggle for fish in the video below!
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