WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Like many local boys before him, Neil returned home to the Australian coast where he was born. Unlike most of them, fame, fans and financial damage follow. He is also a 2,200 pound elephant seal.
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In June, the roaring and plump 5-year-old mammal climbed onto land for its two-year tour of coastal towns in southern Tasmania after months of feeding at sea. That poses a challenge now that he weighs as much as a small car and has a social media following of a population more than twice the size of Tasmania.
His rampage through local infrastructure resulted in bent road poles, a sign warning the public about the seals, and a fence that gave way to Neil’s attempt to climb over it. The rest of the time, he lies peacefully in any place he likes, sometimes in the middle of the road, leading to dead ends in the cities he visits.
But officials say their biggest concern is that Nile’s popularity could lead to ill-advised clashes with the seal people, which are dangerous for both sides.
Neil, the only male elephant seal to visit Tasmania in recent years, has won an admiring TikTok following of 1.4 million followers, partly because he acts like a jerk. During this visit to the shore, his 12th, his crimes included fighting with parked cars and breaking through barriers erected to keep him off the roads.
These antics have prompted some Internet users to hail Neil as something of an anti-authoritarian hero. But experts say this is a normal experiment for a growing seal.
Young male elephant seals need to practice dominance battles, in which adults rear and chest bump each other to compete for breeding opportunities, says Sophia Woltzke, a scientist at the University of Tasmania in Hobart who specializes in elephant seals.
Officials have expressed concern that Nile’s popularity could lead to clashes with the seal people, which would be dangerous for both sides.Sam Walker/via AP
With no other teenagers to practice with, Neil can only rehearse in Toyotas.
Local authorities fear Neil is the latest wild animal whose social media fame has outgrown what is good for him.
“Nile’s fame is a bit of a double-edged sword,” Chris Carlyon of Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said at a press conference in Hobart on Thursday, where he asked seal fans to give him privacy.
“We’ve had some pretty stupid cases of people bringing their little kids up to it and just trying to get that picture for Instagram,” he said.
Officials have urged the public to refrain from naming the city that Neil is currently delighting or terrorizing, depending on who you talk to. They fear the seal’s disastrous encounter with a suitor could force rangers to carry out a risky operation to relocate it.
Carlyon also warned of the worst. In the 2023 episode, the walrus known as Freya, who drew huge crowds in Norway, was euthanized after officials said there was a growing risk to human safety.
“There’s a risk here of loving Neil to death,” Carlyon said.
Seals usually return twice a year to the place where they were born to rest, fast and shed their fur. Many species wander inland during coastal visits, sometimes bringing them to coastal cities.
What’s unusual about Neil is that he is the only male elephant seal to make landfall in Tasmania.
The subantarctic islands south of Tasmania are home to breeding populations of elephant seals, and Neil’s mother likely came from one of them to give birth, Woltzke said. Females have been spotted on the Tasmanian coast before, but having reached the maximum size Neil reached when he was a year or two old, they don’t cause as much havoc, she added.
“People have gotten rid of these animals, and now they may be coming back and repopulating areas where they were previously seen,” she said. “We really need to find a way to coexist.”
Seals typically return to their birthplace twice a year to rest, fast, and shed their fur.Sam Walker/via AP
This may prove to be a difficult task for Neil, as well as the rangers, police officers and security guards who follow him. If he survives to adulthood, Neil could grow to be 16 feet long and weigh three times as much as he does now.
However, according to Woltzke, about 90% of male elephant seals die before reaching reproductive age (about 10 years).
At the moment, Nile the seal occupies a section of the sidewalk, motionless and undisturbed. He occasionally indulges in an orange traffic cone, to the delight of his online followers. It is unclear why he prefers this place, where he returned even after the rangers took him away.
“Apparently he decided that this puddle, surrounded by pillars that are horizontal at the moment, was his place,” Carlyon said Thursday.
His fans can understand that. Local residents have mixed feelings.
“He’s one of our biggest exports right now,” said Dale Creamer, a town resident who is currently killing the seal, which was not personally harmed. “It’s Neil’s world and we just live in it.”