In Australia, a seal named Neil has been causing quite a sensation by playfully obstructing traffic, simply because it wants to interact with the locals.
Over the past few weeks, this 4-year-old marine mammal has made multiple appearances in Hobart, Australia.
Jason Howlett, a 38-year-old traffic worker, captured video of Neil and even formed a sort of friendship with the playful creature.
“It somehow got onto our construction site. I woke up around noon, and it was just waiting outside for us,” Howlett said.
One of the most memorable encounters was when Neil sat in the middle of a highway, blocking traffic on both ends.
“It blocked a very dangerous highway,” Howlett said. “It caused a lot of chaos, and in the end, the police had to intervene.”
The police tried to physically coax Neil off the highway, but ultimately had to use sirens to guide it away.
“It doesn’t like that sound,” Howlett said. “It knows exactly what it’s doing. If it can stop more cars this way, it will switch from one lane to another.”
In Howlett’s video, the police can be seen using traffic cones to show Neil the way off the road, and then using a siren.
Before this incident, Neil had spent several weeks playing with Howlett and his son on a construction site.
“We played with it for a few weeks,” Howlett said, adding that his 6-year-old son once dared to put a hat on Neil’s head, to which it promptly ran away. “But most of the time, we could play with it at a short distance.”
Whenever Neil saw them coming, its ears would perk up.
“It’s like a dog! Always so excited to see us,” Howlett said.
In the final farewell captured by Howlett’s camera, Neil slid back into the water, returning to its natural habitat.
According to marine conservation plans, Neil is expected to grow to 16 feet long and weigh around 7,700 pounds.
The original article titled “VIDEO: Traffic Worker Finds Lovable Seal Blocking Road, Tries to Coax Him Off—But He Wants to Play” was published on the English Epoch Times website.