One of Denmark’s most important seals escaped on Wednesday morning. One plane, one car and two boats are currently engaged in a race to retrieve the animal.

The one-year-old, grey seal Luna is not just your regular seal. Born in Spain, she has played an important part at SDU's marine biological research centre in Kerteminde on the island of Funen since December.

Saving her fellow seals
The research project, which was launched in December, is exploring grey seals’ underwater hearing abilities. The results could lead to a new underwater sonic warning system to warn seals away the vicinity of construction work or fishing activities.

The 59kg animal escaped with her three-year-old brother Nino, who has since been found. It appears the animals had managed to squeeze through a small existing hole.

A huge blow
“It will be a huge loss if we do not find her,” Magnus Wahlberg, the project leader who is a professor of biology at the University of Southern Denmark, explained to Politiken.

“There is an ethical aspect: it has been in captivity and may therefore find it difficult to cope in the wild. Also, we have spent half a year training it. If we can’t find Luna, we will have to start again with a new seal.”