Astro Laps

March of seals:

He has flippers instead of feet -- and certainly no sneakers or hiking boots. But that didn't stop a sea lion from joining schoolchildren on a walk-a-thon.

The 185-pound Steller sea lion waddled ashore, shocking students and teachers. "He did a whole lap," said Kelly Watson...

Astro's mother abandoned him at Ano Nuevo Island off the San Mateo coast in June, prompting biologists to bottle-feed the pup. They released the adolescent on April 25 with a radio tag.

But Astro keeps returning to civilization. About a week ago, he swam under the Golden Gate Bridge to the shores of Corte Madera. The Marine Mammal Center again picked him up and released him...

"This just shows the effect human contact can have," [Marine Mammal Center spokesman] Jim Oswald said. "It's not a happy story for Astro."

Maybe it'd be a little happier if you'd quit kicking him to the curb. You brought it home; you feed it!