Cops Corral Slippery Seal on Jaunt through Long Island Town

A wayward seal has been captured after an early morning foray through a Long Island, New York, town. (Getty Images file photo)
A wayward seal has been captured after an early morning foray through a Long Island, New York, town. (Getty Images file photo)
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Cops Corral Slippery Seal on Jaunt through Long Island Town

A wayward seal has been captured after an early morning foray through a Long Island, New York, town. (Getty Images file photo)
A wayward seal has been captured after an early morning foray through a Long Island, New York, town. (Getty Images file photo)

A wayward seal has been captured after an early morning foray through a Long Island, New York, town.

Police in Southampton said they received a call at approximately 6:30 a.m. Sunday from a person who saw the roving mammal, later identified as a phocid, or earless seal, in the parking lot of a beverage store about 500 feet (150 meters) from the Peconic River in Riverhead.

When officers arrived, the seal fled southwest toward a motel but eventually was corralled and taken into custody.

The seal was handed over to the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation for evaluation, according to police.



Spain Foreign Tourist Numbers Break Record in Early 2025

FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
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Spain Foreign Tourist Numbers Break Record in Early 2025

FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

Spain welcomed a record 17 million foreign tourists in the first three months of 2025 as the buoyant sector drives an economy outshining European peers, official data showed on Monday.

The 17.1 million foreign tourists arriving in Spain from January to March was a 5.7-percent increase on the same period in 2024, the National Statistics Institute said.

Britain, France and Germany supplied the most holidaymakers to the world's second most-visited country, which last year hosted a record 94 million foreign tourists seeking its sun, beaches and culture, AFP reported.

Spending by foreign tourists also climbed 7.2 percent to 23.5 billion euros ($26.7 billion), the tourism ministry said in a statement, a welcome development for the government which wants visitors to splash more cash during their stay.

The tourist sector was one of the drivers of Spain's standout growth of 3.2 percent in 2024, well above the EU figure of one percent.

But the bonanza has sparked a growing backlash among locals who complain that an unsustainable influx of foreign visitors is driving up rents, saturating infrastructure and changing the fabric of neighborhoods.

Spain aims to "diversify" destinations, make the sector less dependent on key seasons and "share out the benefits" across the country, Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu said in a statement.