A rally was held in Chile to save the elephant seal which was stuck in the city
Massive elephant seal rescued after flopping through a seaside town in Chile
The seal was seen traveling through the streets of Puerto Cisnes, Chile before the Chilean Navy directed a rescue operation to take it back to sea.
Chile’s overnight curfew, declared at the end of March to help curb the spread of Covid-19 through the narrow South American country, has not been universally observed by all species. Emboldened by the lack of people and cars, seven mountain lions have been captured on the streets of Santiago in recent months. Now it appears the large cats are not the only creatures keen for a change of scene.
On Monday night, residents of Puerto Cisnes, a coastal city 1,500 km (932 mi) south of the capital, were forced to walk through their neighborhood in a surprisingly decent clip of what is surely a two-ton elephant seal. Tamasha was treated like Swan.
The elephant seal, which has become disoriented after coming ashore, was eventually helped back into the sea after dozens of neighbours, police and naval officers use black tarpaulins to drive it towards the water.
“I was a bit startled to begin with, but because they move slowly, I calmed down and told my son to film it,” a local woman called Antonia told the Argentinian online newspaper Infobae.
"This is something that happens every year, and we have noticed that in the area there is an increase in these sightings."Elephant seals can grow up to 6 metres and weigh around 4 tonnes.There are two species of elephant seals, Northern and Southern, and they can be found in the US state of California, Canada or New Zealand and Australia Macquarie Island and Heard Island, respectively.
“I’d never seen one so close up – and certainly never in the middle of town. We see these animals quite far out at sea and so we don’t know much about them. You don’t know if they’re dangerous or if they could attack someone. But what we saw here was that the animal was scared.”
José Muñoz, a sergeant in the Chilean navy, said the seal had travelled quite a few blocks before it was guided back to the sea and away from the dangers posed by people and dogs.
“I want to thank the community for its huge support,” Muñoz added, reported the Spanish news agency Efe.
“We’ll be carrying out constant patrols so that [the animal] doesn’t come back and to avoid any accidents.”
Southern elephant seals, which are found in sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters, are the largest members of the seal family.
Males seals can measure up to 6 metres in length and weigh up to four tonnes, while females can reach lengths of 3 metres and weigh a little less than a tonne.
