a seal, “Neil the seal”, makes the headlines

In Tasmania, an island state with wild and rugged landscapes, a three-year-old, 600-kilo elephant seal is becoming a real star on the networks and in the press.

His name is Neil and he’s a seal. More precisely an elephant seal. It weighs 600 kilos and has a pronounced taste for cities. Neil loves sunbathing, lying in the middle of a road. He has a passion for triangles, orange and white traffic cones, he really likes to crush them. The animal enjoys taking a nap in the gardens, against a car for example.

A woman told Australian television that he stopped her from going to work and that it was still the best excuse in the world: “Sorry boss, I can’t, I’m stuck”. Neil is becoming a star. He now has an Instagram account with 60,000 followers. It is present on Youtube videos viewed millions of times. Articles are written about him in major, reputable newspapers, such as the Guardian or the New York Times. He even has his own song Neil the Sealsigned John Coleman, an Australian singer.

Neil even won a place on the American channel ABC’s current affairs quiz: “Neil has conquered the world with his antics, but why is all this problematic for wildlife?

A: He might end up with an oversized ego.
B: People who approach him seem to forget that he can be dangerous and unpredictable.
C: He may lose his ability to swim.
D: He can get too used to humans and break into their homes.”

A GPS beacon to track and protect it

The correct answer is B. We want to get closer, to touch it, but it’s not a good idea. “Leave him alone, stay away, at least 20 meters away, and hold your dogs”, say the scientists. He weighs 600 kilos, but that’s nothing yet, he will grow, perhaps reaching more than 3,000 kilos. The fights between male elephant seals which fight to conquer the females are very violent. When hormones kick in, you may start to have interactions with him that you don’t like as much, warns the University of Tasmania.

If Neil likes contact with men so much, “perhaps this isexplain the scientists, that he was born here, on a beach, far from the wild colonies of elephant seals. He considers the region a bit like his home and he comes there to molt. He loses his fur and part of his skin. It’s perhaps because he’s cold that he likes the contact with bitumen heated by the sun.”. In the past, Neil has already been almost harassed by curious people, the scientists have already moved him once to an undisclosed location. He now has a GPS beacon on his head to track him and also protect him.