Groveacher’s three-week hospital rehab was over.

Eight volunteers wheeled his gray steel cage to Rodeo Beach. As 300 people stood behind two rope lines, 20 more volunteers stood before them gripping protective plywood boards labeled “RESCUE” and sporting the blue Marine Mammal Center logo.

Forty yards of sand lay between Groveacher, a barking, brown, 200-pound adolescent male sea lion, and the ocean.

The gate was raised. The tail came out first. Groveacher quickly spun around. A squirming, bouncing body propelled by flippers twisted its way toward the water. After pausing at its frothy edge, the young male dove into the surf and disappeared. Observers cheered.

“I think that went beautifully,” said Danya Winterman, a center development manager, putting down her plywood shield.

The Mari

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