{"id":2401444,"date":"2026-05-04T13:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2401444"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:14:22","slug":"chonkers-is-the-huge-cuddle-seeking-celebrity-that-san-francisco-craves-monterey-herald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/chonkers-is-the-huge-cuddle-seeking-celebrity-that-san-francisco-craves-monterey-herald\/","title":{"rendered":"Chonkers is the huge, cuddle-seeking celebrity that San Francisco craves \u2013 Monterey Herald"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

The newest celebrity in San Francisco? It\u2019s an immensely large sea lion<\/a>, which the world has named Chonkers.<\/p>\n

Chonkers showed up in early March at San Francisco\u2019s Pier 39<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

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

It\u2019s 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\u2019re wet or dry.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 700 pounds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>. They like to eat tasty cod, salmon, squid and octopuses, practice polygyny<\/a> and can dive up to 1,400 feet deep. The agency adds, \u201cSteller sea lions\u2019 impressive low-frequency vocalizations sound more like roars than California sea lions\u2019 barks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Marine Mammal Center<\/a> in Sausalito is aware of Chonkers. And news flash \u2014 it likes to cuddle, according to Giancarlo Rulli, the center\u2019s associate director of public relations. \u201cLike 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 \u2013 as seen in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n