Gecko butt-dials ‘bazillion’ times from Hawaii seal hospital

This Oct. 3, 2018, photo provided by The Marine Mammal Center hospital director Claire Simeone shows a gecko on a phone at the center in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. The gecko is the culprit in making numerous calls in the phones' recent call history with his tiny feet. (Clair Simeone/The Marine Mammal Center via AP) This Oct. 3, 2018, photo provided by The Marine Mammal Center hospital director Claire Simeone shows a gecko on a phone at the center in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. The gecko is the culprit in making numerous calls in the phones' recent call history with his tiny feet. (Clair Simeone/The Marine Mammal Center via AP)

By Associated Press October 9, 2018 2 min read

HONOLULU (AP) – If you got incessant phone calls last week from a hospital that cares for Hawaiian monk seals, you were butt-dialed.

Or, more specifically, foot-dialed.

By a gecko.

Marine mammal veterinarian Claire Simeone was at lunch when she got a call from Ke Kai Ola, the Big Island hospital where she’s director. There was silence on the other end. Nine more silent calls followed. Fearing a seal emergency, she rushed back.

She wasn’t the only one getting calls, and people started asking why the hospital was calling non-stop.