Giant Sea Lion Takes Over Pier 39: Why Is 2,000-Pound Chonkers Drawing Huge Crowds?
A giant sea lion has turned a single floating dock into one of the most-watched marine mammal spectacles of the year.
A giant sea lion has turned a single floating dock at San Francisco’s Pier 39 into one of the most-watched marine mammal spectacles of the year.
The viral marine mammal at Pier 39 is Chonkers, a roughly 2,000-pound Steller sea lion who has been hauling out on the floating docks and dwarfing the smaller California sea lions around him. He has become a social media sensation, with crowds of tourists gathering daily to watch him bark, lounge and hold court at the front of the platforms.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Chonkers was first spotted at Pier 39 in March. Reddit users started posting videos of him that same month, showing him perched at the front of one of the wooden floats while the considerably smaller sea lions kept their distance.
“I wonder what the little guys were thinking. They’re all so cute though,” one Reddit commenter wrote. “That’s one big water dog,” said another.
Chonkers has become a TikTok sensation
A TikTok video posted this week showed Chonkers — also affectionately nicknamed Chonkers — barking with a crowd of onlookers gathered around him. The comments quickly piled up.
“An absolute unit,” one viewer wrote. “Everybody loves a chonker!” said another. A third person added, “Saw him a few days ago, people were calling him the king 😂.” A fourth commenter chimed in: “He’s doing a great job 🥰.”
Pier 39’s floating docks have long been a popular haul-out spot for marine mammals, hosting as many as 2,000 sea lions at a time depending on the season. But Chonkers stands out — quite literally — because he is roughly three times the size of the California sea lions that typically inhabit San Francisco Bay. That sheer size difference is exactly why he is drawing a crowd, and why locals and tourists keep posting fresh photos and videos of the viral pinniped to TikTok, Reddit and Instagram.
How big is a Steller sea lion compared to a California sea lion?
An adult male Steller sea lion like Chonkers can weigh up to 2,500 pounds and stretch up to 11 feet long, according to NOAA Fisheries — making the species roughly one and a half to three times heavier than the California sea lions most San Francisco Bay visitors are used to seeing.
Adult male Stellers show the biggest size gap. They can weigh well over twice as much as adult male California sea lions and look noticeably longer and bulkier. Steller sea lions also have thicker necks and more massive bodies, giving them what’s often described as a “bear-like” appearance compared with the sleeker, more streamlined California sea lion.
That difference is on full display at Pier 39, where Chonkers towers over his neighbors on the docks. Photos and videos circulating on Reddit and TikTok show the roughly 2,000-pound Steller commanding an entire float by himself while smaller sea lions cluster on adjacent platforms, keeping a respectful distance.
Stellers are well suited to spending long periods in the open ocean. Their diving ability increases with age, with some dives recorded at depths of around 1,400 feet. When they come ashore, they rely on calm, undisturbed areas to rest and shed their fur, and these locations also function as centers for social interaction, breeding, birthing, and rearing pups. They are highly social, often forming tightly packed groups on land, while at sea they may move alone, in small groups, or in larger clusters known as rafts near areas rich in food.
They sometimes lift their flippers out of the water to help manage body temperature. Because flippers lose heat quickly, exposing them to the air allows them to absorb warmth and distribute it throughout the body—one of several adaptations that supports survival in cold marine environments.
This species is also capable of traveling long distances. Steller sea lions, especially males, may migrate widely over a season, which helps explain how a massive individual—like a 2,000-pound sea lion nicknamed Chonkers—could end up taking over a busy tourist pier in San Francisco.
Why is the Chonkers at Pier 39 right now?
The simple answer is food. Laura Gill, public programs manager at the Marine Mammal Center, said Chonkers likely had one priority in mind when he showed up. “There’s just a lot of food right now,” Gill said.
Steller sea lions are powerful hunters with a broad and diverse diet. They often feed at night, preying on more than 100 kinds of fish—including Atka mackerel, pollock, salmon and cod—as well as cephalopods like squid and octopus. Their diet shifts with the seasons and varies by location, depending on what prey is available.
They forage both in coastal waters and farther offshore, diving in bottom (benthic) and open-water (pelagic) habitats. Different individuals may adopt very different feeding strategies. Outside the breeding season, some adult females range far beyond the continental shelf in search of food, while others remain closer to shore. During breeding, however, females must stay within reach of their rookery so they can return often to nurse their pups, even as their foraging trips gradually lengthen as the pups grow.
To sustain themselves, grow, and reproduce, Steller sea lions depend on dependable, abundant food sources throughout the year and across all stages of life. Females in particular face especially high energy demands, especially in winter, when they may be supporting themselves, nursing a pup, and carrying another at the same time.
For a 2,000-pound male like Chonkers, maintaining that size requires a huge caloric intake—and right now, San Francisco Bay seems to be providing plenty. That abundance likely explains why this Steller sea lion has settled onto Pier 39’s floating docks instead of continuing on his journey.
How long will Chonkers the sea lion stay at Pier 39?
Probably not long. Pier 39 harbormaster Sheila Chandor told WSJ that the famous floating docks are not designed to be a permanent home for a 2,000-pound visitor like Chonkers.
“We’re a pit stop, that’s how we saw ourselves,” Chandor said. “We didn’t build those floats for 2,000-pound animals.”
Pier 39’s docks can host as many as 2,000 sea lions at a time, depending on the season — but the floats were built with the smaller, sleeker California sea lions in mind, not bulky Steller males who can tip the scales at up to 2,500 pounds. That structural reality, combined with the species’ tendency to migrate long distances chasing food, means Chonkers’ viral run at the pier is likely temporary.
Steller sea lions, especially males, are known to travel significant distances over a season as they follow available prey. Once the food supply that drew Chonkers to San Francisco Bay shifts or thins out, biologists expect him to move along with it. On land, the species also needs safe, undisturbed areas to rest, socialize and care for pups—and a tourist-packed pier is unlikely to remain his preferred stop for long.
For now, though, the Steller is making the most of his temporary stage. Tourists continue to crowd the pier hoping to catch a glimpse of the bear-like chonker who has been crowned “the king” by online fans. As one TikTok commenter put it, “He’s doing a great job.”
If you’re hoping to see Chonkers in person, the advice from his own behavior — and from Chandor’s “pit stop” comment — is straightforward: don’t wait too long.
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