Billy the Seal

An 8th birthday party this morning, then a walk in our local park this afternoon to get over it ! This is Billy the Seal, a famous Cardiff celebrity from early last century. He came to live in a pool in the park zoo( now a playground), after being caught in fishing nets in the Irish Sea in 1912. He briefly escaped when the local area flooded in 1927, but otherwise lived there until his death in 1939. Only after his death was it discovered that he was actually a she. He is also immortalised in song by local folk legend Frank Hennessy. The statue was unveiled in 1997.