On the evening of March 16, a man stabbed an 180-pound elephant seal pup several times on the beach in Neskowin. Happily, the pup was not injured badly. 

A press release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the pup was monitored, evaluated and then, according to Oregon Coast Beach Connection, he was whisked off to Cape Falcon. 

He then swam to Seaside. “He was not aggressive at all, not afraid of people,” Keith Chandler, manager of Seaside Aquarium, said. “Just real friendly. At Seaside, he was hangin’ out by the women’s bathroom side of the Turnaround, then he realized that was the wrong side, and he moved and hung out by the men’s side.” 

He lounged around in Seaside for about 10 days but, worried about too much interaction with people, they moved him to a more secluded location, the aquarium posted on Facebook recently. 

“Interestingly, the elephant seal left the secluded beach, and made its way to the Port of Ilwaco, Washington, where it roamed up and down the Port for four or five days. 

“Again, due to all of the people, it was moved to the tip of the Long Beach Peninsula. When it was released at the tip of the peninsula, it was still fat and hydrated. That was on or around April 16.”

“Since then,” the post added, “the animal has left the beach, and has not returned to shore that we know of, which is great! Young elephant seals spend a long time out at sea.” (Photo: NOAA)