A huge sea lion nicknamed Chonkers has become a major tourist attraction in the US, drawing crowds from across the country.
The portly sea lion, which weighs more than 2,000lbs, has been delighting visitors at San Francisco’s Pier 39, a shopping centre with a promenade full of the animals.
Americans seem to have become obsessed with Chonkers, whose nickname is based on a slang expression for being cute and fat in equal measure.
“I am looking for the big one. I am looking for Chonkers,” one devotee of the sea lion told a local news channel as she arrived at Pier 39.
Another woman said she had taken a day off especially to see Chonkers show off for the cameras on the pier.
“I saw the news about Chonkers in Atlanta, Georgia, and I came all the way to San Francisco to see him,” said a third woman, who had travelled more than 2,400 miles.
Chonkers is delighting visitors who come to see him at San Francisco’s Pier 39 – AP/Haven Daley
Chonkers is one of several sea lions regularly spotted at Pier 39. The mammals are more typically found in the colder waters of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
According to CBS News, sea lions usually weigh between 900 to 2,000lbs, meaning Chonkers is very much at the extreme end of the scale.
However, there is no suggestion that crowds at Pier 39 are fat-shaming the sea lion – on the contrary, they seem delighted with how comfortable he seems to be in his own skin.