Hundreds of Animals Took Over a Beach in Monterey, California

Monterey’s San Carlos beach is closed due to an influx of visitors. Not human visitors, though. They’re sea lions—like, 1,000 of them. The City of Monterey shared a video showing masses of sea lions on the beach and providing some information for locals and visitors alike.

The video’s narrator points out that Monterey’s beaches are a resting point for California sea lions as they make their way from breeding grounds in southern California up to northern California. Monterey Bay is full of sea-lion food (fish), making the area a perfect place for the sea lions to haul out on land and take a rest before continuing on their journey.

The City of Monterey’s video points out that although this natural phenomenon happens every year, the sea lions usually choose a different beach in a different part of town. Addressing locals who are asking when San Carlos beach will reopen, the narrator sarcastically “asks the sea lions” for comment.

In other words, the humans are going to wait for the sea lions to move on before the beach reopens, and no one but the sea lions know when that will be.

See a sea-lion beach takeover here:

Have you ever seen a sea lion colony hauled out on land like this?

Header image courtesy of Reddit user JimmyInNSB on r/MontereyBay subreddit.