#Stranded elephant seal is rescued from city street

A wayward elephant seal was rescued from the middle of the street in Puerto Cisnes, Chile, on Monday, as seen in this viral video from Storyful. The marine mammal became stranded in the seaside city after getting disoriented while coming ashore.

“I was a bit startled to begin with, but because they move slowly, I calmed down and told my son to film it,” a resident named Antonia told the Argentinian publication Infobae about the harrowing moment.

The footage shows the bewildered pinniped — the largest of its kind at up to four tons — lumbering awkwardly down the road. Naval officers try to coax it back to the sea using large tarpaulins in a second viral video from The Guardian, which concludes with the rescuers ushering the two-ton sea beast into the water amid the claps and cheers of overjoyed bystanders.

Local news outlets reported that it took several hours and 50 people to return the Antarctic animal home, before which it had wandered a whopping 10 blocks through the city center.

Fortunately, the seal is now “safe and sound,” according to Chilean Navy Sgt. José Muñoz, who thanked “the community for the great support.”

“We’ll be carrying out constant patrols so that [the animal] doesn’t come back and to avoid any accidents,” he added.

This isn’t the first time a seal has been stranded far from home. In November, a California seal pup had to be rescued from a parking garage after getting hopelessly lost on land.