Ever since the dawn of the internet cute animal videos have always reigned supreme, and as more evidence of this universal truth is Tasmania’s newest celebrity/menace: Neil The Seal. But he deserves so much more than just internet fame — give Neil the Hollywood treatment and make a movie about him! It’ll be box-office gold.
The 600kg southern elephant seal rose to stardom online when residents of Tasmania’s south started filming his shenanigans and posting them to TikTok.
Get a look at him yourself. He is gorgeous and innocent and I won’t hear a bad word about him.
Videos of Neil went bonkers viral, earning him millions upon millions of views and likes for his reign of Tassie terror. Some of the chaotic activities he has been recorded doing include:
- stopping folks from going to work due to sleeping under their cars.
- demanding free food from customers at tuck shops.
- chasing after residents.
- lying on the middle of the road.
- getting into fights with traffic bollards and cones.
- turning up unannounced on people’s porches.
- and being a serial cootie patootie.
Here Neil is seen getting into a fierce battle with one of his arch enemies: a traffic cone.
@kylielee191 More neil content 😂😍 #neiltheseal #livinghisbestlife #dunalley #itshisworldwejustliveinit #fyp #neilthesealtas #landdownunder @🎀Dat_Carguys_Wife🎀 ♬ This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
Whatever the beef between them is, I have no doubt the traffic cone started it.
As did the bollard in this TikTok.
@nieltheseal Neil the Seal knocking down anything what comes in his parh today. #mylifeisinthistown #sealofapproval #nieltheseal ♬ original sound – Niel the Seal 🦭
Neil The Seal’s antics have also earned him his own Instagram account, where anyone who spots Neil in the wild can send their photos and videos for the page to share with the seal’s fans.
In fact Neil’s stardom is not as new as it seems. His Instagram page has been documenting him ever since July of 2022.
Honestly I think Neil is a national treasure at this point, ya feel? Give him a movie.
@erincjenk Neil ❤️ #neiltheseal #neil #nealtheseal #seal #tasmania #fyp #dunalley ♬ original sound – Erin
If we were willing to make Red Dog, a film about a canine that an entire town in Australia befriended, then a film adaptation of the Neil The Seal story needs to be in the works ASAP.
Don’t get me wrong, Red Dog is an amazing film that I can’t get through without depleting all tissue reserves in my suburb. But there’s been plenty of movies about good doggos.
Give my boy Neil a crack, we already know he’s not camera shy.
@candacce Neil deserves all the naps in the world #fyp #foryou #animals ♬ original sound – candacce
But maybe my dreams for a big-screen adaption might need to be put on hold.
According to an article published by The Guardian, experts fear for Neil’s health and safety.
“It’s OK when animals are cute and interacting in generally safe ways, but then they become bigger and other natural behaviours kick in – along with their hormones – and you can start to have interactions that you are less fond of,” warned professor from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Mary-Anne Lea.
Lea warned that people who continue filming Neil need to remember that he is still a wild animal, and not a tamed house cat we post funny videos of.
That said, they are adorable to watch.
Here is Neil giving peak house cat energy as he lays in a patch of sun.
@news.com.au Belly full, life is good 😎 #neiltheseal #neiltok #elephantseal #tasmania #grateful ♬ my love mine all mine –
Neil if you are reading this, and I know you are, you will forever be in my heart. I’ll never forget you, and I promise to name my firstborn in your honour.
