January 12, 2026

Slippery the Sea Lion

How a runaway sea lion escaped Canada in 1958, crossed an international border, and became a North American folk hero.

In the summer of 1958, a sea lion did something no one expected. He left a half-finished amusement park in Canada, slipped into the river, and began swimming.

10 days later, he was found hundreds of miles away in Ohio, having crossed an international border without a passport, a plan, or any intention of turning back.

His name was Slippery, and the journey he took would turn him into the world's most famous sea lion.

Slippery was a California sea lion living at Storybook Gardens in London, Ontario, a whimsical new park that had just opened with nursery-rhyme gardens and a small menagerie of animals. Some locals remembered him by another name, Cyril, but everyone agreed on the nickname Slippery. Even before his great escape, he had a reputation for wriggling out of places he was not meant to be.

The park itself was still unfinished when Slippery arrived. Pathways, fences, and water systems were new and imperfect, and that mattered more than anyone realized.

One afternoon in June 1958, Slippery slipped out of his pool and found his way into the Thames River. From there, he followed the water as far as it would take him, drifting into Lake St. Clair, then down the Detroit River, and finally into Lake Erie. Dock workers, fishermen, and bridge crews began spotting a sea lion where no sea lion should have been. Word spread fast, and newspapers picked it up. Even radio stations followed his progress like a wandering celebrity.

Attempts to retrieve him failed. Slippery moved when he wanted to move and stopped when he wanted to stop. He crossed from Canada into the United States without anyone noticing the moment it happened, turning an animal escape into a quiet international border crossing.

After more than a week on the water, he was finally captured near Sandusky, Ohio, by Dan Danford, the curator of mammals at the Toledo Zoo. But even then, Slippery was not simply sent home. Under the US law, wild animals that escaped captivity could be considered free, and the Toledo Zoo director initially insisted that Canada would have to file a formal request through the US government to reclaim him.

What followed was a small diplomatic drama. London, Ontario sent officials and a truck, and Toledo argued jurisdiction. Also, the press and media just ran with it. Meanwhile, more than 23,000 people came to see Slippery while he was temporarily housed in Toledo.

Eventually, pride gave way to goodwill. A week later, the zoo agreed to return him.

On July 6, 1958, Slippery was loaded into a station wagon and driven back across the border. At the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, police escorts waited. Thousands of people lined the road. By the time he reached London, more than 50,000 residents, nearly half the city, were gathered to welcome him home.

He was greeted not as a wayward animal, but as a hero.

The cause of his escape was never confirmed, but many believe the water feeding his pool had been left running. As it rose, it eventually overflowed, allowing Slippery to slip out and head for the nearby river. And from there, instinct and curiosity did the rest.

Slippery lived at Storybook Gardens until he passed away in 1967. In the years that followed, his journey inspired books, plays, documentaries, and memorabilia. Today, a bronze statue near the park’s entrance quietly marks where his story began.

It is hard to imagine anything like it happening now. Borders are tighter, enclosures are safer. Liability forms would arrive long before a hero’s parade.

But for one strange and wonderful moment in 1958, a sea lion followed the water, crossed a continent, and reminded two countries that sometimes history is written by whoever slips away.

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