This week in Gordon’s Bay, South Africa, residents were stunned to see a massive elephant seal lumbering through their suburban streets, even stopping traffic.
Concerned onlookers contacted the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. The seal was identified as a southern elephant seal—one of the largest seals on Earth, with adult males weighing up to 8,800 pounds.
These seals typically live in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, making this sighting especially rare. While young males occasionally come ashore along South Africa’s coast to rest or molt, it’s extremely unusual for one to wander into a neighborhood.