Police save seal from becoming roadkill on busy Onehunga street

The seal was found on Neilson St in Onehunga at 2.40am. Photo / Auckland City District Police Facebook

Police came to the aid of a seal wandering the streets of Auckland last night and helped return it to its marine habitat.

Acting Sergeant Matt Sheehan found the seal on Neilson St in Onehunga at 2.40am.

With help from Senior Sergeant Malcolm Tillson and other staff, they cajoled the hefty 30kg aquatic mammal into a makeshift pen to ensure its safety and to stop it crossing the road.

Police were called out to secure the seal. Photo / Auckland City District Police Facebook

The seal sitters watched the 2-year-old seal until Department of Conservation staff arrived and returned it to the sea.

The Auckland City District Police posted the rescue on their Facebook page, using puns "well done to our staff who get a seal of approval" and "we think that's called sealing the deal".

Among the feedback was the comment: "That Seal owes those Coppers a beer after work."

Well done to our staff who get a seal of approval for their actions after responding to a rogue seal wandering the...

Posted by Auckland City District Police on Tuesday, 15 August 2017

18Jan17

Seals are no strangers to Auckland.

For much of past year, a 300kg female leopard seal was regularly spotted by people who were catching the ferry from Bayswater Marina.

In October 2015, a seal flippered more than 1km through paddocks to visit a West Auckland farm.

The farm property borders Brigham Creek - an inlet of the Waitemata Harbour that runs past Hobsonville into West Auckland - which the thought is thought to have travelled.

Earlier in 2015, three seals were found in residential Papakura on separate occasions in the space of two weeks.