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Chonkers is the huge, cuddle-seeking celebrity that San Francisco craves

April 30, 2026

The newest celebrity in San Francisco? It’s an immensely large sea lion, which the world has named Chonkers.

Chonkers showed up in early March at San Francisco’s Pier 39, where floating docks of barking sea lions regularly draw admiring crowds. Its enormousness makes it something of an anomaly. Whereas a dock can usually hold a handful of sea lions, Chonkers is big enough to nearly take up the whole damn thing itself.

ABC 7 has set up a live cam that streams the docks 24/7, for anybody who wants to check in on the big chonk. The pier itself also manages a live camera. The animal is reportedly most active there in the mornings and late afternoon/evenings.

It’s unclear if Chonkers is alone or one of a couple of Steller sea lions visiting San Francisco. The creatures often hang around immediately offshore in the Bay Area and can look different depending on whether they’re wet or dry.

The males of this species can grow up to 11 feet long and weigh up to 2,500 pounds, as opposed to male California sea lions’ 700 pounds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They like to eat tasty cod, salmon, squid and octopuses, practice polygyny and can dive up to 1,400 feet deep. The agency adds, “Steller sea lions’ impressive low-frequency vocalizations sound more like roars than California sea lions’ barks.”

The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito is aware of Chonkers. And news flash — it likes to cuddle, according to Giancarlo Rulli, the center’s associate director of public relations. “Like their California sea-lion counterparts, Steller sea lions are thigmotactic (or thigmotaxis), which describes a tendency to seek physical contact with surfaces or others. Both species will cuddle, pile together and maintain contact as part of social bonding and comfort – as seen in this case.”

Chonkers, a Stellar sea lion, launches onto a dock at Pier 39 in San Francisco on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

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Chonkers, a Stellar sea lion, launches onto a dock at Pier 39 in San Francisco on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

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Based on visual observations, the center estimates the weight of Chonkers to be 1,500-2,000 pounds. “The 2,500-pound figure is for the ‘beach master’ males – so, the top end of the adult-male weight spectrum. It’s important to factor in that in this time of year (spring and summer), these large males are often more underweight than normal as they typically, but not always, consume less food during this time, sometimes fasting for up to two months.”

This Steller sea lion is likely from the Eastern population group that’s found along the U.S. and Canadian coast. “This population set was de-listed several years back from the endangered-species list,” Rulli says. “Steller sea lions have appeared at Pier 39 before, notably in May 2023, but we do not have historical data points to showcase the rarity of past appearances.”

The next time you’re in the area of Pier 39, keep your ears open for the roar of Chonkers.

Chonkers is the huge, cuddle-seeking celebrity that San Francisco craves Orange County Register

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Chonkers is the huge, cuddle-seeking celebrity that San Francisco craves

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