Why "Neil the Seal" Is Causing Chaos in Tasmania

A five-year-old elephant seal nicknamed 'Neil' has become famous for causing trouble along the coast of Tasmania, an island state in Australia. Neil weighs about one ton — that's 2,000 pounds — and he has been spotted knocking over road signs, ramming into cars, sleeping in neighborhoods, and blocking traffic. Even so, people can't seem to get enough of him. More than 1.5 million people follow Neil on social media to watch his wild adventures.

Neil is a Southern elephant seal, one of the largest seal species in the world. He was born in Tasmania in 2020, which is already something special. Elephant seals used to live all around Tasmania, but hunters wiped them out in the early 1800s. Scientists say Neil may be one of the first Southern elephant seal pups born back in the region in a very long time.

When Neil was just a tiny pup weighing about 90 pounds, wildlife officials had to rescue him. He had gotten stranded on a sandbar and was in danger of drowning. Biologist Kris Carlyon from the Tasmanian Department of Natural Resources said Neil's mother may have been caught far out at sea and gave birth 'at the nearest possible land.' Officials have kept watch over Neil ever since. 'Some might say that he's our fault,' Carlyon said. 'But he was certainly going to drown on that day.'

Now Neil is much bigger — and much more energetic. Marine biologist Cara Field from the Marine Mammal Center in California says Neil's behavior is actually pretty normal for a young male elephant seal. In the wild, young male seals 'joust' or 'spar' with each other by bumping chests and play-fighting. This helps them practice for when they are adults and need to compete for mates. Neil won't even be fully grown until he is about nine or ten years old.

The problem is that Neil is all alone in Tasmania. There are no other elephant seals around for him to practice with. So instead of play-fighting with other seals, he takes out his energy on cars, traffic cones, and road posts. 'Since there are no other seals, he finds other things like cars and posts and cones to express that natural normal behavior,' Field said. She adds that while it is good he is acting on his instincts, he is missing out on important social time with other seals.

Scientists also point out that elephant seals are amazing navigators. Researcher Roxanne Beltran, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, says elephant seals use something called a 'map sense' to find their way back to the same spots on shore year after year — even after spending months swimming in the deep ocean. Neil keeps returning to Tasmania every year, which fits this pattern perfectly. 'Neil the seal is exhibiting some typical behaviors of elephant seals, like returning faithfully to the same place every year,' Beltran said.

Neil's fame has also helped raise awareness about threats facing his species. In Australia, Southern elephant seals are listed as 'vulnerable,' meaning their numbers are low enough to be a concern. The seals face dangers from rising sea levels, stronger storms caused by climate change, overfishing, and bird flu. Still, Neil's return to Tasmania gives scientists hope. Carlyon said, 'Regardless of the resource burden and the challenges that Neil throws, we're pleased to see him.' Wildlife officials do ask fans to keep a safe distance from Neil — for both his safety and theirs.