【Philippines Archives】

Who doesn't love a snooze on Philippines Archivesthe beach?

Park rangers at Wilson's Promontory in Victoria, Australia were greeted with the rare sight of a subantarctic fur seal just having a bit of a kip on its shores last weekend.

SEE ALSO: Save animals from drowning in your pool with the help of this tiny ramp

While fur seals are found widespread in the Southern Hemisphere, it's the first time one has visited the national park, located on the very southern tip of the state of Victoria. Only 36 have visited Victoria in history, and the pup, which is estimated to be just one year old, is the fourth sighting this September alone.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"It's unclear why so many sightings have occurred in the last two weeks, normally there are two to three sightings between May and September each year," Jonathon Stevenson, a Parks Victoria park ranger, explained via email.

"It could be random chance or maybe there is a problem with their food supply, forcing the juveniles to travel further afield at this time of year."

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Although they are listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN with a population of about 300,000, climate change might be increasing pressure on these seals and impacting their habitat. If this little fella had something to worry about, it's that he was alone.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Once they are weaned, they leave their mum for good, as she is already about to give birth to her next pup. So this little fellow would have been on his own. Mum was probably about 2000 kilometres (1242 miles) away near Macquarie Island," Stevenson added.

If you ever do encounter a seal on a Victorian beach, you'll have to stay at least 30 metres (98 feet) away as required by Victorian law.

If you have a dog, it has to be kept 50 metres (164 feet) away to minimise disturbance to the seal and should be kept on a lead — although dogs are prohibited from national parks like Wilson's Promontory anyway.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Seals and dogs are fairly closely related in the evolutionary tree and as well as dogs causing greater disturbance, they can pass on diseases to seals or contract diseases from seals," Stevenson said.

Besides, who likes being woken up during a nap?

[h/t Huffington Post]

---

Featured Video For You

---

The ugly truth about giraffes

---

• Deals
• Shopping
• Science
• Games
• Digital Culture
• Social Good
• Entertainment
• Tech

• Stablecoin bill advances in U.S. Senate as Trump critics call to end his crypto dealings
• President Trump's phones are reportedly still vulnerable to hacking
• The Vivo Apex, with a true edge
• Review: Quantic Dream's 'Detroit: Become Human'
• Best Sony deal: Save $100 on WH
• Donald Glover responds perfectly to Lando Calrissian's pansexuality
• Amazon Map Tracking lets you track package delivery live
• Circle Invest makes it ridiculously easy to invest in cryptocurrencies
• Whale Vomit Episode 5: Startup Monarchy
• Stephen King really, really hates Twitter, apparently

• nugs.net subscription to livestream concerts at home
• John McCain doesn't want Trump at his funeral
• The best canceled TV shows of 2021 and where you can still watch them
• Elon Musk has revealed the size of his tax bill for 2021
• I still play Pokémon like an aggressive child and I regret nothing
• 'The Matrix Resurrections' is more smug than smart: Review
• How to opt out of Verizon's shady data tracking
• Melania Trump's cyberbullying pamphlets look A LOT like Obama's
• The 15 best tweets of the week, including soup, Bruce Springsteen, and tax fraud
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cupsonly follows 1 person on Instagram, and it's brilliant

• Patched Desktop PC: Meltdown & Spectre Benchmarked
• Woman orders 'Summa Cum Laude' cake, gets the censored version instead
• Scientists want you to look out for exploding stars in this project
• We're getting more 'Queer Eye' – and much sooner than expected
• U.N. confirms the ocean is screwed
• Spotify seriously needs to add a blocking feature
• The RED Hydrogen One will act a view finder for this 8K 3D camera
• The sexiest ships in Star Wars
• Anker raises Amazon prices amid US tariffs
• The 10 best sketches of 'Saturday Night Live' Season 43

• Get Rid of Windows 10 Ads, Office Offers and Other Annoyances
• A 'Solo' sequel? We need to talk about that ending
• Pornhub launches a new VPN service called VPNhub
• 'Westworld' should really just be the Maeve show
• NYT Strands hints, answers for May 2
• In defense of 'Phantom Menace', the most misunderstood Star Wars film
• Reason 9,999,999 to hate foodies: "Bowl food"
• Justice Department launches probe into Bitcoin price manipulation, report claims
• Better Buy: Previous
• George R.R. Martin short story headed to the big screen