Encroaching wildlife is a common headache for staff at the Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport in the northern tip of Alaska.

But this week they had to deal with a scenario they had yet to encounter when a 32-stone seal was discovered sunbathing on the runway.

Scott Babcock, a foreman at the airport nestled between the Isatkoak Lagoon and Beaufort Sea, was clearing snow after a heavy storm on Monday when he spotted the 450lb mammal sprawled on the tarmac.

“It was very strange to see the seal. I’ve seen a lot of things on runways, but never a seal,” Mr Babcock told ABC News.

Staff at the airport, which is based in the town of Utqiagvik, are not allowed to move marine animals so they had to call in the North Slope Borough Animal Control.