'Celebrity' seal back on Victoria-area beach after 4th relocation
Emerson the seal travelled more than 150 kilometres in less than 5 days to make it back to Oak Bay: DFO
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 more than 150 kilometres away on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
That means two-year-old Emerson traveled an average of more than 30 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 email 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."
The slippery creature has now been relocated four times for his own safety after he tried to cross roads, climb stairs and even wandered through garden beds on past visits to busy public spaces since last May.
On Tuesday, Emerson could be seen sunning his round, grey body on McNeill Bay beach right next to a busy walkway in Oak Bay.
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.
Van Kirk says the DFO and volunteers with the Marine Mammal Rescue Unit are keeping tabs on Emerson's location and will only relocate him again, somewhere nearby, if he gets closer to humans or the situation becomes emergent.
The moulting process Emerson is experiencing can be taxing and cause him to lose a fair bit of body weight, Van Kirk said.
"We can't keep playing the game of cat and mouse with him," he said. "And since he's just done this big journey, we don't want to put too much extra pressure on him in case he does want to come back."
Hall and Van Kirk urged members of the public to keep at least 100 metres from Emerson at all times, and to keep dogs on leash around the beach.
While he may look sleepy and relaxed, Hall says Emerson can move faster than he looks and has large teeth.
"As long as we give him a wide berth and recognize this is a natural process … this is just an opportunity where we get to see one of the amazing sea creatures that is normally many, many miles from land," she said.
With files from CBC's All Points West and CHEK News