Alaska: 240 Kg Seal Found Wandering on Runway:
It’s not common to find wildlife wandering in an airport’s runway, that was the case in Alaska where a lounging seal was found relaxing.
Seals are one of the main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, Pinnipedia. They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae. Seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and, with the exception of the more tropical monk seals, which are mostly confined to polar, subpolar, and temperate climates.
Workers at the airport in the nation’s northernmost city found the seal relaxing on the runway on Monday. The seal is estimated to weigh 450 pounds (204 kilograms), fortunately, the seal was removed from the runway at the airport at Utqiagvik by way of sled as reported by KTVA.
Scott Babcock posted photos and videos of the bearded seal lounging on the runway in the town formerly known as Barrow on Facebook. Pilots were warned by the state Department of Transportation of "low sealings" at the airport.
The department’s communications director, Meadow Bailey, said Utqiagvik, an Arctic Ocean coastal community on Alaska's North Slope, experienced heavy storms on Monday. The staff found the seal as they were clearing the runway. However, the department's staff members are not allowed to handle marine mammals, so the seal was removed by North Slope Animal Control.
Bailey revealed that the workers have seen birds, caribou, polar bears and musk ox on the runway, but this was the first time they stumbled upon a seal.
"Wildlife strikes to aircraft pose a significant safety hazard and cost the aviation industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year," Bailey said. "Birds make up over 90 percent of strikes in the US, while mammal strikes are rare."