Sea World hopes the flight of four rescued and recuperated New Zealand fur seal pups to a thriving colony on the New South Wales south coast will be the first of many.
The pups were flown from the Gold Coast theme park to a nature reserve on Montague Island by a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft late last week.
The successful flight in the RAAF C-27J Spartan came after five years of similar failed attempts for other rescued seals who had previously been forced to stay at the park due to NSW regulations.
"We do have two animals out of the four with tracking devices so we can monitor this release, because we ourselves want to understand if we can continue to do it," Sea World director of marine sciences Trevor Long said.
The seals were among a pod of 14 eight-month-olds being nursed back to health at the theme park after they washed up on Queensland beaches in an unhealthy or injured state.
One had suffered a shark bite and was severely underweight, while vets believed inexperience had led to them being swept by currents up the Queensland coast.
"They don't fit in the waters up here, they don't have the natural food," Mr Long said.
"It's a bit too warm up here for them as they are approaching summer."