An out-of-place Steller sea lion stopped traffic in the Prince William Sound community of Valdez last Friday morning, making for a memorable shift for patrol Sgt. Chad Clements with the Valdez Police Department.

Clements said officers began getting calls about a sea lion loose on land near the harbor at around 6:30 a.m.

Soon, they received a call that the sea lion had moved to the parking lot of an RV park near the local Captain Joe’s Gas Station — even farther from the water than where it was initially spotted.

“It was like, ‘All right, he’s going the wrong way,’ ” Clements s...