Neil the Seal smashes Tasmania’s calm during molt

Neil the Seal, a 5-year-old southern elephant seal, is back on Tasmania’s shoreline while he molts, drawing fans and frustration as videos show him flopping through streets, destroying fences, and cuddling with traffic cones in the island state south of Austra

For the third time it seems, Tasmania is having the same kind of trouble: a 5-year-old southern elephant seal named Neil the Seal has returned to shore, and he’s doing what elephant seals do best when they’re not swimming—staging a full-body routine that leaves public property paying the price.

Video shows Neil flopping his “blubbery body” around on a street, destroying fences and cuddling with traffic cones as he draws a growing crowd. Locals tracking his movements through the account @neiltheseal22 say he’s back in Tasmania, an island south of Australia.

Neil will remain onshore while he goes through his annual molt. Friends of the Elephant Seal says this is the period when elephant seals grow new hair and skin ahead of the mating season. The reason is straightforward. even if the results aren’t: elephant seals do not have blood circulating near their skin while they swim in the cold ocean. They come ashore to grow new hair and skin and shed the old layers.

The timing matters because the “hauled out” phase is when seals come out of the water to molt, rest, give birth, and more. Neil first arrived on the island at Clifton Beach in 2022, when he was spotted napping and playing with traffic cones near Tasmania’s capital, Hobart.

People who see Neil in person describe the same thing observers keep repeating—this isn’t mischief meant to harm. it’s mass and momentum. Southern elephant seals are the second largest mammals on Earth after whales, according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition. Adult males ages 8 to 10 can weigh anywhere from 4,900 to 8,800 pounds and average 14 to 19 feet in length.

One report put Neil’s weight around 2,205 pounds. Jane Younger. a seal expert at the University of Tasmania. described him as “like 1. 000 kilos at this point. ” adding that he is “obviously more capable of being a menace.” She also said “He’s broken fences. he’s harassing people’s cars – that’s just a function of his size.”.

Neil’s diet offers a clue to why the chaos is so focused on objects instead of food. His diet consists of squid, octopus, fish, and mollusks. Even if he’s upsetting traffic cones and cars, there’s no indication he’s targeting them for dinner.

Elephant seals like Neil can be found in the ocean surrounding Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere. While it may be unlikely to see him soon in the Northern Hemisphere, his relatives are already part of the winter-to-spring story on the U.S. West Coast.

Northern elephant seals—relatives of Neil—are smaller than southern elephant seals. according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. They live in the North Pacific. with habitat ranging from Baja California. Mexico. to the Gulf of Alaska. the Marine Mammal Center states on its website. They typically haul out between December and June and can be spotted in California and along the U.S. West Coast.

For Tasmania, though, the immediate story is closer and more physical: Neil is onshore now, and his molt is expected to keep him there as his body sheds and rebuilds—one hefty flop at a time.

Neil the Seal Tasmania southern elephant seal wildlife molt Hobart Clifton Beach conservation public property