{"id":763859,"date":"2026-06-27T14:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T14:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/763859\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T14:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T14:29:15","slug":"neil-the-seal-shuts-down-road-at-seven-mile-beach-as-onlookers-gather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/763859\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil the Seal shuts down road at Seven Mile Beach as onlookers gather"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil the Seal shut down a road at Seven Mile Beach earlier today after the one-tonne elephant seal parked himself at a busy intersection.<\/p>\n

Tasmania Police said they attended the intersection of Esplanade and Surf Road around 10am after Neil became a traffic hazard.<\/p>\n

The road was closed and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment was called in to help move him.<\/p>\n

Neil, now estimated to weigh around 1,000 kilograms, knocked down bollards on his way through the area.<\/p>\n

\"\"Neil the Seal shut down the intersection of Esplanade and Surf Road today. Image \/ Phil Preston<\/p>\n

Neil eventually headed back toward the beach, where onlookers gathered to watch.<\/p>\n

His size has forced wildlife experts to change how they handle relocations.<\/p>\n

\"\"Crowds gathered on Seven Mile Beach to catch a glimpse of Neil. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

In an earlier visit he was lifted onto a trailer using a tarp and a team of people, but that is no longer considered possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven small movements from a large wild animal can cause serious injury,\u201d NRE Tas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a subadult, his behaviour has changed and techniques used during previous visits have been updated to ensure everyone\u2019s safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some community members have questioned the methods used to move him, but the department said padded poles and noise were \u201ca standard, internationally recognised approach used by trained wildlife experts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"People are urged to stay at least 20 metres away from the elephant seal. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

\u201cThese methods are designed to safely guide the animal without causing harm,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Neil was born in 2020 and first rose to fame in July 2022 after playing with traffic cones during his moulting period in southern Tasmania.<\/p>\n

Videos of him blocking roads, napping on lawns and knocking over bollards have since drawn millions of views on TikTok and Instagram.<\/p>\n

The department urged people to stay at least 20 metres away from Neil and to keep dogs on a lead at least 50 metres away.<\/p>\n

\"\"His size has forced wildlife experts to change how they handle relocations. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

People are also asked not to share his location to protect him from crowds.<\/p>\n

Sightings or concerns can be reported to the marine mammal hotline on 0427 942 537.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Neil the Seal shut down a road at Seven Mile Beach earlier today after the one-tonne elephant seal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-763859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}