A 450-pound bearded seal was removed from the Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport in Utqiagvik, Alaska, on Monday after it got a little too comfortable on the runway.
The sleepy seal was discovered by airport foreman Scott Babcock, who was clearing snow after a storm when he noticed the big ball of blubber chilling on the runway.
"It was very strange to see the seal. I've seen a lot of things on runways, but never a seal," Babcock told ABC News.
He later posted a video of it to Facebook.
According to Babcock, staffers at the airport are “not allowed to handle or haze marine mammals,” which is why he decided to whip out his phone and capture some footage of the lethargic sea mammal while waiting for wildlife control personnel to arrive and remove it, which they eventually did using a sled.
To complement Babcock's post, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities added its own pun-punctuated post about the seal on its Facebook page.
"This big guy decided to do a little wintertime sunbathing on the Barrow Airport runway yesterday," the post began. "#alaskaproblems North Slope Borough Animal Control eventually removed the seal and air traffic was able to resume. Aircraft operators should continue to be aware of low sealings at our North Slope facilities."
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