A persistent elephant seal will be relocated far from “human habitation” after it kept showing up in busy public spaces in the Greater Victoria area.
Emerson the elephant seal is no stranger to the city and is known for ambling though grassy boulevards, destroying tulips, soaking up the sun and also occasionally crossing a busy road, according to a Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) official.
“Emerson is quite the celebrity both in the U.S. and Canada,” Paul Cottrell, a DFO marine mammal co-ordinator, told CHEK News.
Cottrell says the seal is two years old.
WATCH | Why does Emerson the elephant seal keep returning to land?
Emerson the elephant seal, a local celebrity, returned to Saanich on Friday only to be taken away by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Our Climate and Science Specialist Darius Mahdavi shares why elephant seals haul out to land.
“Right from young age he has been used to people,” he added. “We have relocated him three times [before].”
Emerson has been relocated only to revisit the waters around Victoria, migrating between B.C. and Washington state.
The seal was spotted in Oak Bay last May and again in September along the Songhees Walkway.
This time around Emerson appeared in Saanich on April Fools’ Day.
Resident Philip Brown says he spotted the mammal make its way out of the Gorge Waterway inlet early that morning.
“He came up over the bank, brought himself up to a nice garden … and perched himself [on the garden] and sunning himself,” Brown said in an interview with CHEK News.
“The city should maybe fine him for destroying some of their flowers,” he added.
In a statement to CBC News, DFO said Emerson is moulting — a month-long process where a seal comes ashore to shed all of its fur and underlying layer of skin.
WATCH | Urban elephant seal back on land, after 3rd relocation attempt
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An elephant seal named Emerson is moulting in Saanich, B.C., on Vancouver Island after being relocated away from cities three times.
“A moulting elephant seal can be an intimidating sight. Weighing up to 2,300 kg and as long as five metres, when this animal moults it may appear to be very sick and may develop elephant seal skin disease,” the statement reads.
But, DFO says, it’s a natural process and should not be interfered with.
With locals scampering to take photos and crowding around Emerson, local authorities cordoned off the seal’s resting spot and installed a sign asking onlookers not to touch the animal as it could carry a bacterial disease like leptospirosis.
While local police did manage to usher Emerson back into the water on Monday, he returned to Saanich again on Friday.
On The Island7:22A moulting elephant seal has been making itself at home near the Oak Bay Marina
Gregor Craigie spoke with Mandy Ludlow, the Victoria Detachment Commander for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
With Emerson’s tendency to put himself in high traffic areas, officials say they are herding him “farther from human habitation” so he can complete the moulting process in peace.
Fisheries officials said they managed to corral Emerson and load him onto a truck after “a long grueling” effort Friday.