Charges expected soon over seal shooting

Police say they will soon lay charges after at least two fur seals were apparently shot dead on Otago Peninsula on Sunday.

The first of the two seals was found on Monday and a post mortem examination has suggested the death was due to gunshot wounds, which were consistent with shotgun pellets.

The second seal was found yesterday and a post mortem examination is yet to be conducted.

Seven men aboard a boat on Sunday are the target of police investigations.

Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis of Dunedin said police would meet with the Department of Conservation at 9am today and review the evidence with a view to laying charges.

"There's probably some things that we still need to do but we're not far away."

He would not speculate on how many of the seven men aboard could face charges. "We're still working through the culpability of the people," he said.

"Initially six of the seven onboard the craft were spoken to. Clearly you don't need to be Einstein to see there's one other there who should be given the opportunity.

"Then we'll sit down and look at who said what and when and what we can prove."

Mr Croudis said it still appeared there were just the two seals dead.

He declined to confirm reports one of the men being spoken to was a former All Black, saying no identifying information would be made available until charges were laid and the matter was before the courts.

After speaking to the men on Sunday night after a tourist group reported seeing seals being shot at, police interviewed the men and confiscated three shotguns.

- NZPA