A large sea lion brought traffic to a halt south of Dunedin today after it took a seat in the middle of the road.
A police spokeswoman said they received a call that a "large seal" was sitting in the middle of Taieri Mouth Rd, in Kuri Bush, at 11.39am.
It was causing traffic issues as cars were having to stop.
"It appears the seal could not get to the beach from where is was because there was a lot of trees and foliage in the way," she said.
Police arrived shortly after, but a member of the public had already successfully ushered it 150 metres and back on to the beach.
Department of Conservation coastal ranger Jim Fyfe said, despite not seeing it himself, it was likely a sea lion rather than a fur seal due to where it was found and its behaviour.
It was the time of the year when sea lions played ‘‘cat and mouse’’.
Females were out searching for hiding spots along the coast and away from the males, and meanwhile the males were out wandering trying to find the females and their pups, he said.