Mike Kai thought one of his surfing buddies was thumping around on his rooftop deck.
When he looked on the roof, he found a sea lion pup enjoying the view of Newport Beach at sunrise.
Kai said he couldn't imagine how the pinniped made it up the stairs and onto the roof early Thursday. Lesson learned -- sea lions can climb stairs.
Kai told the OC Register the sea lion started back down the steps, then changed its mind and returned to the roof.
"My roommate is up and our neighbor comes to check it out too," Kai said in a blog post. "I think, maybe this guy can be my friend? Maybe he can live in my bathtub like the 1994 classic movie 'Andre'?"
While Kai called Animal Control, the pup showed off, wiggling along a railing on his belly, two stories up.
The pup was taken to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, where volunteers named him Fiddler, after the Broadway musical "Fiddler on the Roof."
Staff there said he is underweight, probably because he was recently weaned and having trouble finding food on his own. They said sea lions are mobile and curious and have been found everywhere from a restaurant kitchen and to a public restroom.
