A young sea lion with big eyes and a poor sense of direction was rescued Tuesday morning from Highway 101 in South San Francisco, the California Highway Patrol said.

The sea lion, which appeared healthy, had been prevented from entering the northbound traffic lanes by several drivers who stopped.

A CHP officer opened the door to his patrol car and the animal “willingly jumped right into the back seat,” the CHP said in a statement.

CHP photographs showed the animal riding in the back of the vehicle, looking with curiosity through the security barrier separating the front and back seats.

The animal was initially taken to the Peninsula SPCA, where staff members there said they didn’t treat sea lions.

“We’re not licensed for sea lions,” said spokeswoman Buffy Martin Tarbox. “But we didn’t see anything that needed immediate investigation.”

She said she suspected the disoriented sea lion may have waddled along after coming from a creek running near the freeway.

The SPCA staff wrapped the animal in towels and summoned rescuers from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito who picked it up and brought it there. Spokesman Giancarlo Rulli said the sea lion was quarantined because it had “had a stressful day.”

Veterinarian Emily Whitmer said the sea lion appears to be a year-old pup that was “searching for the Pacific Ocean and appeared to have lost its way.” It will receive a thorough exam on Wednesday, including the kind of exam that will enable veterinarians to determine its gender and stop calling it “it.”

The sea lion was receiving electrolyte fluids through a tube — “it’s like Gatorade for sea lions,” Whitmer said — and will begin receiving fish from its new human friends late Tuesday or Wednesday. The animal was being treated for a superficial wound on its front flipper that could have come from a fight with another animal.

“The only one who knows how it happened is the sea lion, and the sea lion isn’t talking,” she said.

Hopping into the patrol car was a good thing to do this one time, Whitmer said, but hopping into cars is exactly what the Marine Mammal Center does not want sea lions to get into the habit of doing. Beachcombers who come across sea lions can help by keeping their distance and not feeding the animals or snapping selfies, she said.

“We don’t want sea lions to get used to humans,” she said. “We want them to be sea lions.”

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com