Beloved elephant seal returns to Greater Victoria beach yet again
CBC
A persistent, 500-pound elephant seal with "celebrity status" on Vancouver Island is back in town.
Fishery officials say they're shifting tactics after Emerson the elephant seal returned — yet again — to Oak Bay on Friday, just five days after a team removed him from Saanich and dropped him off on west coast of Vancouver Island.
That means two-year-old Emerson traveled an average of 34 kilometres per day back to Greater Victoria, "an incredible feat," according to fishery officer Morgan Van Kirk with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
"I was pretty floored. I got the e-mail on the weekend and said to myself, 'there's absolutely no way it could be him already,''' Van Kirk, who helped relocate Emerson last week, told CBC's All Points West on Tuesday.
"But, yeah, this is his home and he's letting us know that."
Emerson could be seen sunning his round, grey body on McNeill Bay beach right next to a busy walkway in Oak Bay on Tuesday.
The slippery creature has now been relocated four times after he tried to cross roads, climb stairs and even wandered through garden beds on past visits since last May.
The seal is in the midst of a regenerative process known as moulting that requires an elephant seal to come ashore while its body uses its energy to replace tissues like skin and whiskers all at once, according marine scientist Anna Hall.
Hall says it's hard to say why Emerson continues to come back but "obviously [this beach] has everything he needs and wants right now."
"He's picked a great spot and he's sticking with it," Hall told CHEK News.
While Van Kirk says his team is in awe of Emerson's navigation skills and determination, the seal's apparent habituation to humans and "celebrity status" among locals is raising safety concerns for both him and the community.
Van Kirk says the DFO has received several "egregious" harassment reports of people trying to pet Emerson, approaching him with their animals, and even, in one instance, encouraging a child to touch the seal's nose.
"That usually never ends well for either people or animals and it can lead to injuries or worse for people or the animal involved," said Van Kirk.
People found in violation of marine mammal regulations may face fines up to $100,000, he said.
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