6 October, Rio de Janeiro. While ordinary people haul umbrellas, SPF 50 creams and beach mats, one young southern elephant seal simply came out of the water, plopped down on the sand of the famous Copacabana beach and lay down to rest. No towel. No cream. No "mind if I lie here?"
Biologists immediately confirmed: this is the same visitor that had already been spotted on other beaches along the coast (São Conrado, Icarai in Niterói). Apparently, he decided to give himself a full tour of Rio's most happening spots.
Lifeguards put up purple flags (meaning "marine animal here, keep away"), the crowd respectfully kept its distance and filmed on phones. And the elephant seal meanwhile:
- rolled from side to side,
- buried his snout in the sand,
- yawned,
- and was clearly enjoying the fact that no one was yelling "move over, this is my spot."
The internet has already given him the nickname Leôncio (after the grumpy character from old cartoons). And indeed: he looks like a tourist who came from Antarctica, saw Copacabana and said "well, that's it, I'm staying here."
A classic of the genre: an animal from cold waters swam to the tropics, took the best stretch of beach and didn't even bother to bring his own towel. Brazilians are delighted. The elephant seal is too.
The animal had already been spotted on other beaches along the coast, so biologists were tracking his movements and asked people to keep their distance and not disturb his rest.
The elephant seal himself, by all appearances, was completely unbothered.
No umbrella.
No towel.
No lounge chair.
No cocktail.
Just came from cold waters, lay down on Copacabana and made it clear with his whole appearance:
"Yes, I'm on vacation. Any questions?"
All in all, the perfect tourist.
He buys nothing, hurries nowhere, and took the front row completely for free. 😄
