Emerson the adventurous young elephant seal finished moulting and swam away from a popular Beach Drive beach late Sunday or early Monday.
The seal has been moulting at the beach near the Oak Bay Marina for about a month, drawing crowds of onlookers and more recently police officers who were trying to keep the wandering 300-pound seal safe.
Protective barriers, put up to prevent Emerson climbing the stairs and crossing the road, are still in place but there was no sign of the 18-month-old seal Monday.
Peggy McCann was one of many scouring the beach, looking for Emerson.
“I’ve been coming down every day to see him for a month, big, old, fat thing,” she said with a laugh. “Everybody else here also started watching him. I just think it was marvellous. It’s so nice to see this.”
McCann wondered if the seal swam off to be with his mother, Elsie May, who gave birth to him Jan. 31, 2022, in Bowman Bay in Deception Pass State Park in Puget Sound.
“I miss him. He brought the neighbourhood together,” said McCann. “Everyone would talk to each other about what they were seeing.”
Elephant seals spend a month each year on land to moult. They shed all their fur along with an underlying layer of skin, and spend their time napping.
