Tasmania is a state in Australia that consists of an island about 240 kilometers off the coast of Melbourne. Tasmania has gained a new citizen: Seal Neil. Neil is a so-called southern elephant seal that weighs 600 kilograms. It was among other things The Guardian first to report on.
Blocked woman from getting to work
Neil the seal is known to block roads and get in the way. At one point, a woman couldn’t go to work because Neil blocked her car. In an interview with The Guardian, she says that she cheated on the seal so that her boss would believe her.
Neil the seal blocks the woman’s car. Photo: Screenshot from The Guardian. Over 60,000 followers
Now Neil has gone viral on both Instagram and Tiktok, where he is filmed wandering around the area. His dedicated account on Instagram is up to 63,000 followers at the time of writing. There are many who don’t seem to get enough of the seal’s antics. But experts are worried.
The professor Mary-Anne Lea who works at the University of Tasmania tells The Guardian that people need to remember that seals are wild animals. Lea draws parallels between Neil the seal and Freya the walrus in Norway who came to be loved by the Norwegians. She became known for climbing into boats and then lying and sunbathing. Freya the walrus was euthanized after the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries deemed her a danger to human safety. Read more about it here.
Now Mary-Anne Lea believes that people should see the connection. To The Guardian, she says that Freya and I know what can happen when large mammals interact with humans. What will happen to Neil the seal remains to be seen.