Anecdotes of Billy the Seal. Well the earliest incarceration of Billy The Seal, I believe, was that he was kept in a Herring Barrel in the entrance to the Fish market. There are various stories as to how he ended up there- some people say he was picked up on a trawler -I don't know if that is true or not. He was kept in this Herring Barrel he became a well -known Character. He grew rapidly and was eventually moved up to Victoria Park fountain. So, Legend has it that, that area, being flat lands suffered from flooding, one year the river Taff flooded and so did the whole of Cowbridge Road Billy apparently swam down there in a bid for freedom. There were other rumours that sometimes he used to catch the tram into town. People just took it as part of Cardiff life. When Billy the Seal died there was an autopsy done on him and they found out that Billy was not a man but a woman.
There is certainly a statue of Billy The Seal now in Victoria Park.