MARINE VISITOR TO NAPIER

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 143, 5 July 1937, Page 4

MARINE VISITOR TO NAPIER

The Seal That Wouldn't Be Killed A RARE SPECIES A Weddell seal, which appears to be maliing a trip xound the East Coast, making calls at ports en ronxte, paid n brief visit to Napier on Saturday. Afc . about 4 or 5 p.m., passers'by were first attracted by the creature lying on the beach in the vicinity of Breakwater road about 15 or 20 feet above tbe waterline A large crowd soon gathered to watch the seal, which appeared to be in ,distress. Eventually two men went over to examine it and fonnd that tht creature had suffered wounds On tho rocks and appeared to he in great pain, They took hold oi dts tail and moved.it gently down to the water ?s ed'ge, Once it was returned to its natural element, the sea! showed sigus of recovery, but it still had difficulty in getting clear of the rocks. Eventually it reached deep water and waa last seen heading for the open sea. The sea! was about six feet long, and was a fully-grown one, remarked Mr R. Kibblewhite, who was one of the men who assisted to move it back into the water-. It had several ugly wounds oa its side and it was pathetic to hea'r ifc grunting and to see ifc making epiis* modic elforts to get back to the sea."What wa§ apparently the same seal was observed in Wellington last weok, and a few days beforo that it had been seen at Gisborne, where it clawbered, up on to the side of a wooden wharf and took a sun bath before a numoer of interested spectators. While in Wellington, it spent the afternoon lying on the rocks. Crowds looked at at, percejved that it would not eat and was elightly wounded, and froely expressed the opinion that it was dying. The Marino Department, the Society for Prevontion of Gruelty - to Animals and the Dominion Museum authorities were notified- and- dehated the, animal's fate. It was deeided that it should be put out of dts misery and be converted iuto a museum exhibit and a taxidermist was sent for; but the wai had other v ideas. When dusk came and the tide rose it quietly islipped out into the water* and swam away. It had a gash about three inchos long under its starhoard fiipper and a shprter one above, as though a shark or killer whale had bitten it but had been sueeessfuily shaken off. - Oa landing, the seal rejapsed dnto a comatose condition and closed its eyes, breathing heavily and twitching ite sore fiipper from time to time. It declined to eat scraps of bread and fish offal, but it is well known that spals in the wdld state refuse to touch dead, fish. pr, R B. Oliver, of the Domiuion Museum, identified the seal as an elderly Weddell seal^ strayed from the land-iee of the Antarctic. He said it was the second speeimen of the kijid known tp have been east up on, the New Zealand coast, The previous speeimen wa« found at Titahi Bay (near Wellington) some years ago and was now du the museum.