{"id":816,"date":"2026-07-07T18:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T18:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=816"},"modified":"2026-07-07T18:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T18:46:32","slug":"please-give-neil-the-seal-some-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=816","title":{"rendered":"Please give Neil the Seal some space"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Having white-knuckled through America\u2019s unhinged 250th birthday party, maybe you\u2019ve been wondering what it might be like to live in a place where the chaos is more car-crushing than soul-crushing, one where the bellowing, camera-hogging creature throwing its weight around isn\u2019t the president of the United States but, instead, a 2,200-pound sea mammal.<\/p>\n

Read more John Oliver\u2019s killer \u201cGeneral Hospital\u201d turn did not disappoint<\/a><\/p>\n

Residents of the Southern Tasmania city Hobart can probably tell you what it\u2019s like, because for the past half-decade its seaside streets have been disrupted by twice-yearly visits from Neil, a male Southern elephant seal with a deceptively sweet face and the chaotic panache of the \u201cJackass\u201d cast.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Neil the beloved elephant seal has once again returned to Seven Mile Beach, Tasmania, for his annual moult, keeping locals on their toes with his cheeky and sometimes destructive antics. pic.twitter.com\/hYLjGRW3VP<\/p>\n

Read more The trademark wars of influencer culture<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) July 7, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Elephant seals live in open water, but it\u2019s common for them to return to where they were born for molting season, when they shed their topmost layer of skin and fur. Officials in Hobart do their best to prepare for Neil\u2019s flop-abouts by setting up traffic cones, installing roadside bollards and fenced-off areas. But Neil is uncontainable, trampling fences and collapsing bollards to sprawl out in the middle of roadways and protest loudly when urged to move along (though he has become fond of traffic cones.) This isn\u2019t just teenage dramatics: Elephant seals don\u2019t hunt or eat as they molt, so he\u2019s hungry and tired and will sleep wherever he damn pleases.<\/p>\n

But giving this absolute unit a wide berth has become more challenging as his viral fame grows, because humans keep crowding Neil, getting dangerously close and perhaps forgetting that he is a wild animal. As they do yearly, Marine biologists and wildlife officials urge fans to respect Neil\u2019s privacy and let him molt: The more peace he gets, the more we can look forward to his next visit.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump resurrects oldest GOP scare tactic over democratic socialist wins<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please give Neil the Seal some space<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1146,1147,1148,1149,1150],"class_list":["post-816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-australia","tag-elephant-seal","tag-neil-the-seal","tag-ocean-wildlife","tag-tasmania"],"yoast_head":"\nPlease give Neil the Seal some space - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=816\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Please give Neil the Seal some space - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Please give Neil the Seal some space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=816\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T18:46:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=816#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=816\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"Please give Neil the Seal some space\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T18:46:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=816\"},\"wordCount\":370,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=816#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/3907fca370dfe37dcb7c66e64c07ba02.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Australia\",\"Elephant Seal\",\"Neil The Seal\",\"Ocean Wildlife\",\"Tasmania\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=816#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=816\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=816\",\"name\":\"Please give Neil the Seal some space - 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