Seal causes stand-off on United States highway

Wildlife experts and law enforcers on Monday tried to keep a determined elephant seal off a Northern California highway that it repeatedly tried to cross, snarling traffic.

In a message posted on Twitter, the California Highway Patrol said they hoped the low tide would keep the seal from returning to land, adding that the units would continue to monitor the area to make sure the seal remained safe.

The California Highway Patrol warned the two-lane highway could be shut down if the portly pinniped tried to charge across the thoroughfare again.

That was the suspicion because she is so big, an estimated 900 pounds. The Marine Mammal Center and the CHP kept a close eye on Tolay as it became a unsafe situation for drivers on this busy stretch of roadway.

The move was “so she could have her pup on the beach where she should”, Johnson said.

Stay with KRON 4 for updates on the seal.

Experts say the seal does not appear to be injured and is likely lost and confused. “So she’s got a lot of weight, she’s got a lot of strength on her, she could tear the board away from your hands if you don’t hold it the proper way”.

“Ultrasound, we did see a fetus, and so she is pregnant”, said Shawn Johnson of Marine Mammal Center. “She pretty much does what she wants”, Barbie Halaska, a research assistant at the mammal centre, was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle as saying. Barclay said that “he’s back in the water now”.

On Tuesday, at approximately 2:30 p.m., the seal made her way back to land, and was met by Shawn Johnson, director of veterinary science at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, who then tranquilized her. The seal was then transported to a waiting truck and was driven to the Point Reyes National Seashore, where she was to be released on Tuesday at Chimney Rock, according to the SF Gate.

She appears to be very healthy and shows no sign of illnesses, Halaska said.

On Tuesday, mammal center staff were continuing to try to guide the seal from a kayak in an attempt to get her swim into the open water.