Seal On Runway In Alaska Prompts Hilarious ‘Low Sealing’ Warning

UTQIAGVIK, AK — No air traveler likes it when the captain announces a takeoff delay, but in Alaska Monday, an unusual warning relieved some of the irritation passengers might have felt when they had to sit tight for a while. A 450-pound bearded seal plopped itself on the runway at the Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport in Utqiagvik, and pilots relayed the "low sealing" warning issued by the state’s department of transportation.

"Low sealing," of course, is a play words referencing the real warning issued when the cloud ceiling is so low it can reduce visibility, lead to thunderstorms, create icing conditions and generally complicate air travel.

The seal refused to budge. Airport staff are not allowed to "handle or haze marine mammals," according to regulations, so the North Slope Borough Animal Control was called to deal with the seal. It took a heavy-duty snow blower and sled to cart it away.

Airport worker Scott Babcock was removing snow from the runway when he spotted an animal of some sort. He told ABC News he expected to see "a small spotted seal, not a 450-pound Oogruk."

"It was very strange to see the seal," he said. "I've seen a lot of things on runways, but never a seal."

The bearded seal likely made its way to the airport during during heavy storms in the Utqiagvik area Monday, Alaska Department of Transportation spokeswoman Meadow Bailey told KTVA-TV.

Birds, caribou, polar bears and musk ox are frequent visitors to the airport, but both Babcock and Bailey said they've never seen a seal on the runway. Regardless of the species, animals can be an expensive problem for the aviation industry, costing it "hundreds of millions of dollars each year," Bailey said, and also posing a significant safety hazard.

"Birds make up over 90 percent of [wildlife] strikes in the U.S., while mammal strikes are rare," she told KTVA. "The safety of our aviation system and the traveling public is the primary goal during all wildlife control efforts."

Fun fact about the airport: The small, rural airport is located the farthest north in any U.S. state, and is named after American humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post, both of whom died in a 1935 airplane crash about nine miles away. The airport is owned by the state of Alaska and about 33 flights come in and out of the airport on a typical day.

Photo by Scott Babcock, via AP video