Sightings of dead and possibly emaciated seals saw the Department of Conservation keeping an eye on Westshore Beach at the weekend.
A young photographer who snapped a lively baby and mother seal frolicking on the stoney shoreline just three weeks ago was shocked to see three dead or gravely ill seals in the past few days.
Corban Lugt, 15, got up close to one of the lifeless seals, which he said appeared to be "very thin"; another sighted in the lagoon at the end of Whakariri Ave was without a head.
It's something DOC services manager Dave Carlton says may be due to rough offshore conditions affecting juvenile seals not yet adept at hunting.
"I sent a ranger out this afternoon.