• Sweden edition

Baby seal killed in road accident

Published: 18 Mar 10 18:00 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/25612/20100318/

Police in eastern Sweeen thought they had fallen victim to an early April Fool's joke when motorist Åke Andersson called to say he had run over a baby seal while driving home to Norrtälje.

The unusual accident occurred in Roslagsbro, 80 kilometre north of Stockholm.

"At first I thought it was a bag but when I came closer I saw that it was a baby seal. I tried to swerve but I touched its head and unfortunately it died," Andersson told local newspaper Norrtelje Tidning.

The hapless driver was mystified as to how the seal had made its way onto the main road.

"It must have swum up the inlet at Gillfjärden and then made its way up the ditch and onto the road because it cant have flown there," he said.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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19:16 March 18, 2010 by xykat
Near Täby, right ON the FREEWAY I once saw a mother duck and her baby ducklings cross the freeway.

This nice man stopped and angled his car against traffic just to attempt to save the mother duck and her babies. He motioned to the cars to slow down. He put his life and his car in danger but I think he was successful in preventing the mother duck and the babies from getting smashed.

I think there should be fences near waterways and major roads to prevent wildlife from getting killed and also to keep drivers themselves safe.

Poor baby seal! At least the man stopped!
23:17 March 18, 2010 by wxman
How did a seal end up on the highway? Deer, racoon, and fox, yes, but a seal? The theory seems somewhat improbable. Was the road near the fjord?
07:12 March 19, 2010 by karex
What a pitty, the poor creature. But how bizarre... I agree with xykat, there should be fences. But the environmentalists say that we shouldn't block natural migration paths. I drive on a daily basis on a road which at one point has a large number of animals crossing: deer, badgers and other creatures. the road runs between two good-sized lakes and I suppose they move from one to the other.

Well, we build tunnels and underpasses to try to remove all the level railroad crossings. Why can't we build underpasses so the wildlife can get through without getting run over?
10:08 March 19, 2010 by J Jack
maybe a covert navy seal
12:12 March 19, 2010 by SandStorm
@J Jack: loooooooool
16:07 March 19, 2010 by justanotherexpat
Damn! I live not too far from there. In recent weeks in my car I've hit a lynx, two deer, a fox, a cat, a badger, a crow.........could've added "seal" to the list...........
20:23 March 19, 2010 by Coalbanks
That's it! Ban all exports from Sweden! They have killed a baby seal! Oh the HORROR!
16:32 March 26, 2010 by MichaelZWilliamson
It's spring here, time for idiot soccer moms to block the road against goslings, the poor baby goslings, and the adult geese. Far better to risk a rear end collision at 65 kmh than honk and keep driving.

The sad thing is, the geese don't learn. They learn instead that cars will stop for them, and feel no urgency to get off the road. Meanwhile, drivers at 65 have to lock up brakes because some stupid bunny-humper is stopped in the middle of the road.

The smart thing is to slow down and maneuver if possible, and in a few days the geese learn to avoid the road. After that, you just turn up the radio so you don't hear the crunching of the stupid ones.

Think of it as evolution in action.
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