Emerson is back in town, with the celebrity seal swimming an astonishing 34 kilometres per day back to the Victoria area, thwarting efforts of fisheries officers to move him on to safer shores up north.
The relocation effort followed several incidents of harassment, including a report of a child being encouraged to crawl into a roped-off area and touch noses with the marine mammal.
B次元官网网址淭he potential for injuries is massive,B次元官网网址� said Morgan Van Kirk, a fishery officer with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). B次元官网网址淓mersonB次元官网网址檚 larger than a black bear, and is a wild animal.B次元官网网址�
He added that seals carry a lot of communicable diseases as well that can be passed to humans.
B次元官网网址淪o thereB次元官网网址檚 multiple reasons why that is absolutely not OK.B次元官网网址�
The DFO would like to keep the name of the Greater Victoria beach where Emerson has taken up residence as much of a secret as they can to limit this type of harassment.
Van Kirk said Emerson is about two years old and is currently moulting, which involves the shedding of skin. The animals generally prefer to be alone and stay on land during the process, just dozing and tossing sand on themselves to keep cool. They also wonB次元官网网址檛 eat during the moult, losing up to 25 per cent of their body weight.
Emerson is back, just days after being relocated to a remote beach. Now is reminding people to keep their distance as elephant seals can carry communicable diseases.
B次元官网网址� Victoria B次元官网网址 (@VictoriaB次元官网网址)
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As part of the relocation team, Van Kirk said he thought Emerson would be happy in the Barkley Sound Beach the team had plopped him on.
B次元官网网址淲e delivered him right to a perfect quiet beach up there,B次元官网网址� Van Kirk said. B次元官网网址淎nd we were really hoping that he would stay put for the for the remainder of this moult, but he had other plans.B次元官网网址�
Van Kirk was not too surprised though. Emerson has already been relocated four or five times.
The seal swimming back in just six days was a bit of a shock, though.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think anyone thought heB次元官网网址檇 get back as quick as he did,B次元官网网址� Van Kirk said. B次元官网网址淭hat definitely speaks to how incredible they are B次元官网网址� just the fact that he knew exactly where to go to come back here.B次元官网网址�
To get Emerson out to Barkley Sound, Van Kirk said it took five fishery officers to coax the animal onto a flatbed trailer for the drive up-Island. No sedatives were used in the process, but they did have marine mammal rescue experts on standby in case anything went wrong.
Though Emerson is a juvenile, he is already about 500 pounds, but is expected to get much larger, up to 4,000 to 5,000 pounds. He will also eventually develop the characteristic elephant seal B次元官网网址渢runkB次元官网网址� as he grows older.
Marine mammals are protected, meaning people can get large fines for disturbing the creatures. Van Kirk said there is no set distance for people to stay away, but if the animal is being disturbed, it is too close.
And any touching B次元官网网址� by nose or otherwise B次元官网网址� is way outside the limits.
The DFO has some help monitoring the situation from some local volunteers, but if people see any issues with marine mammals being harmed or harassed they are encouraging people to call and report incidents at 800-465-4336.
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