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A young seal found in the bushes at a Glen Eden park has been returned to its home - 9km from where locals first saw it.
Resident Kylie Shipley and a friend were out for an evening stroll on Withers Road on Monday, when her friend stopped in her tracks.
"She said to me: 'Did you see that? That looked like a seal'. I said: 'Don't be bloody stupid'. We walked into the park and saw something in the bush. It was a seal."
Residents, who kept well clear of the 1-year-old seal, struggled to keep him in one place as the Department of Conservation was called to retrieve it.
Ms Shipley said at one point, they lost sight of him only to hear a loud "What the?!" coming from the road.
Traffic had to be redirected as the seal flapped its way around the neighbourhood, before eventually being caught on a resident's front lawn.
DoC marine ranger Karl McLeod said the seal was in a strong and healthy condition and estimated that the mammal had travelled 8-9km from the Waitemata Harbour.
"I'd say it got that far inland - travelling for a full day - crawling up through the upper reaches of Henderson, the estuary near Lincoln North and the fresh water streams," he said.
Seals coming inland were not so unusual, Mr McLeod said, with similar incidents happening in parts of West Auckland last year.
He said the mammals were well accustomed to the land, but long periods out of the water could be dangerous for them and other animals.
"They can cope out of the water but curiosity can lead them inland, where they could come into contact with dogs - that can be bad for both the seal and the dog - in terms of diseases," Mr McLeod said.
The seal was later released into the Manukau Harbour, on the northern heads near Whatipu, where a large seal population lives.
Mr McLeod said it was a happy ending to a long night.
"He bounded out of the truck and dipped into the water looking very happy and relieved."
