Seal in Majime River in Ube 宇部市の真締川にアザラシ

Here's something you don't see everyday: Ube City in the national news. Oh, and a seal.

(tip of the hat to Japan Probe.)

At about 4:00 PM on the 20th of this month a seal was discovered swimming in the Majime River which is located near the Ube City Office. Apparently it got there via the Ube Port and residents had reported seeing the seal about a week prior in the general area.
People quickly dubbed the seal "Maji-chan" or "Majime-kun" because...you know...it's the Majime River. Yeah.
Opportunists Concerned citizens are hoping to exploit Maji-chan will become a popular figure like Tama-chan.

Story (in Japanese) can be found here:
@nifty (with video from NNN)
Daily Yomiuri
Ube Nippo
Picture of Majime River looking not so...robust

Japan Probe (which scooped me! Damn!) has the NNN video of the story on youtube here.