Big rig driver Larry Manry thought he must have struck a cow on Interstate 5 near Lodi when he hit something so heavy it dented his bumper.
Instead, it was a sea lion, fatally far from the Pacific Ocean.
The marine mammal had worked its way 85 miles inland by swimming through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta east of San Francisco.
It was crossing the southbound lanes of California's main north-south Interstate highway before dawn on Monday when Manry hit it.
California Highway Patrol Officer Adrian Quintero says the sea lion may have been disoriented. The driver was not charged.
Highway workers used heavy equipment to clear the large animal from the roadway.
The Associated Press Got a question or a comment? Send us an email.
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