Department of Conservation officer Kevin Pearce stands near a leopard seal he was checking at Oamaru Harbour yesterday. Inset: The wound. Photos by David Bruce.
Police and Department of Conservation officer Kevin Pearce went to the harbour to investigate.
However, Mr Pearce said the wound was superficial and the male seal, which he estimated to be 3 or 4 years old, was healthy.
It was about 2.5m long and had come ashore to moult, which also made it look sick.
The injury could have occurred in a fight at sea, or when the seal came ashore across rocks at the Wansbeck St end of Marine Pde, he said.
