The Mirror

‘It’s An Animal That Has Another Animal Stuck Up Its Nose’

NOAA Fisheries/Brittany Nolan.

Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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CNN’s Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta has been called a thorn in President Trump‘s paw. Porn star Stormy Daniels has been dubbed a “thorn in Trump’s side. And American Urban Radio‘s April Ryan is a “thorn in the side of the Trump Administration” and “one of the major thorns in the president’s side.” But there’s something far worse happening in nature — it’s Hawaiian monk seals getting eels stuffed up their noses.

A friendly warning: This may curb your cravings for fresh eel at sushi restaurants.

Claire Simeone, a veterinarian and monk seal expert in Hawaii, told The Washington Post this week, “It’s just so shocking. It’s an animal that has another animal stuck up its nose.”

The story says only “three or four cases” of eels inserting themselves into a seal’s nose like a sausage have been reported since June.

There is no real upside for the eel here.

It may be temporarily comforting. But once the eel gets lodged in the seal’s nose, he (or she) dies.

Earlier this week, the Hawaiian Monk Research Program posted the strange phenomenon of the seal with the eel up his nose on Facebook.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association site’s story has the world’s perfect headline for this situation: “Eels in Seals, a Slippery Situation.”

I asked the NOAA public affairs reps if any scientists had obtained government grants to study eels in seals’ noses, and, if so, how much they received. I’m still awaiting a response.

Things could be worse. The other possible scenario, this story suggests, is that the seals could swallow the eels, which could then come out “the wrong way.”

Trump, Acosta, Daniels and Ryan may want to count their lucky stars that the reporters and the porn star are just thorns in president’s side and not up his nose or anywhere else.