c/mildlyinteresting · by FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world · 45d

Australian officials ask fans to respect the privacy of Neil, a 1-ton seal who respects nothing

https://apnews.com/article/neil-elephant-seal-tasmania-australia-dd46ef42400dc85b92c103d5f10718ef

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Like plenty of local boys before him, Neil has come home to the stretch of Australian coast where he was born. Unlike most of them, he trails fame, fans and property damage in his wake. He is also a 1,000 kg (2,200 pound) elephant seal.

In June, the bellowing and blubbery 5-year-old mammal hauled himself onto land for his twice-yearly tour of beachside towns in southern Tasmania state after months of feeding at sea. That’s posing problems now that he weighs as much as a small car and has a social media following more than double Tasmania’s human population.

His rampage through local infrastructure has claimed bent traffic bollards, a sign warning the public about seals and a fence that did not survive Neil’s attempt to vault it. The rest of the time he lies placidly any place he likes, which is sometimes the middle of the road, bringing towns he visits to a standstill.

221 points · 17 comments · view on lemmy.world

17 Comments

FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world · 55 pts · 45d

For a rampaging, misbehaved seal... he is super cute.

aburrito@sh.itjust.works · 37 pts · 45d

Niel the Seal is a real life Kaiju. Emerges from the ocean for a few days every year, weighs a full ton (not even fully grown!!!), leaves a trail of destroyed infrastructure behind his rampages, and retreats back to the sea and then comes back bigger

actualaccount@sopuli.xyz · 23 pts · 45d (1 reply)

I love watching videos of Neil.

FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 45d

It's an easy rabbit hole to fall into. He's living the unbothered, hometown menace life we all can only dream of.

Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 18 pts · 45d

"With no other juveniles to practice with, Neil can only rehearse on Toyotas."

This also explains why JD Vance fucks couches.

tomatolung@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 45d (1 reply)

Neil, the only male elephant seal to visit Tasmania in years, has commanded an enthralled TikTok following of 1.4 million in part because he acts like kind of a jerk. During this visit to shore, his 12th, his crimes have included picking fights with parked cars and smashing through barriers erected to keep him off roads.

Those antics have prompted some online to hail Neil as a kind of anti-authoritarian hero. But experts say it’s normal experimentation for a growing seal.

Juvenile male elephant seals need to practice for dominance battles in which adults rear up and crash their chests together as they compete for breeding opportunities, said Sophia Volzke, an elephant seal scientist based at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.