Some passenger had their flights delay this week because   one 200 - kilogram ( 450 - pound ) seal found the perfect spot to sunbathe   – on an airport runway .

Airport chief , Scott Babcock , spotted the critter at   Will Rogers Memorial Airport in Utqiagvik , northerly Alaska , when he was   take out blow from the runway after a heavy storm on Monday . He decided to portion out this delightful , if a little surrealistic , encounter on Facebook .

He simply captions " FOD " , which is transport industry talk for " Foreign Object Debris " .

" It was very strange to see the seal . I ’ve see a lot of things on runways , but never a Navy SEAL , " Babcock told reporters atABC News .

The Facebook post was quick picked up by the Alaska Department of Transport ( ADOT ) , who called the incident # alaskaproblems . They also apprize aircraft operators to keep an eye out for " blue waterproofing at our North Slope facilities " .

According to Babcock , airport staff are n’t leave to handle nautical mammal so   North Slope Borough Animal Control was call in to deal with the lose seal , who they proceeded to absent with a sonorous - duty snow blower and sled .

Meadow Bailey , ADOT communicating director , secernate local news program site and television stationKTVAthat aerodrome staff have call in report sightings of   birds , caribou , frigid bear , and musk on the rail in the past . This , however , is the first instance involve a cachet .

" Wildlife strikes to aircraft pose a significant base hit hazard and cost the aviation industry one C of one thousand thousand of dollars each yr , " Bailey tell apart KTVA . " Birds make up over 90 percentage of strikes in the US , while mammal work stoppage are rare . "

The bearded Navy SEAL ( otherwise known as an   oogruk ) is the largest breed of icy seal and can grow   up to 7 - 8 foot grandiloquent , consort to theNational   Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . And while at 200 kilograms the one determine at Will Rogers Memorial Airport was a pretty big beast ,   they can arrive at weights of up to360 kilograms ( 800 pound ) .