Wandering seal that relaxed on man's driveway visited car wash overnight - Update

A gathering crowd applauded as a seal was herded into a cage after coming ashore for the second day in a row. The seal spent Monday morning wandering about the New Zealand suburb of Papakura, before emergency services guided it towards an estuary.





It was loaded onto a Department of Conservation (DOC) vehicle and taken away from its south Auckland sleeping spot on Tuesday afternoon. Auckland Zoo head vet James Chatterton described the seal as being "calm and gentle". The seal was found asleep in a car wash building in Papakura on Tuesday morning.




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Police came across the seal at a road intersection in the suburb at about 2am, Inspector Chris Money said. The seal then made its way into the car park of a nearby medical clinic. From there it entered the Uwash car wash building, where it fell fast asleep. It woke up at around midday, and waved a flipper at the crowd of about 50 people who were watching.





The increased activity prompted DOC staff to move people further away from the lost mammal. The large fur seal's city excursion ended when he was coaxed into a crate. He was then loaded into a vehicle and was driven to Karioitahi Beach, southwest of Auckland, where he was released by Department of Conservation and Auckland Zoo staff.