The sea lions had taken over the sidewalk, and there was no way to move them. Police tried for several minutes, pushing, circling them, shouting instructions, but the group of more than a dozen animals would not give up any ground, and pedestrian traffic remained blocked.
Then he appeared: long hair, shirtless, a calmness that did not fit the chaos. Without rushing, without shouting, he began guiding the sea lions back to the sea while everyone around him watched without quite understanding what they were witnessing.
The resemblance to Aquaman was so obvious that the video went viral almost immediately. No one explained who he was or where he came from, but for a few minutes, on that coast, it seemed the myth had a first and last name.