Yesterday, two recreational fishers raised the alarm over what appeared to be a male sea lion entangled underneath the wharf at the Steamer Basin in Dunedin.
Dive Otago and Experiencing Marine Reserves spokeswoman Amelia Saxby said the sea lion had been sitting underneath the wharf for a "wee while".
She said the sea lion appeared to be stuck between two poles.
While the impromptu rescue crew - which consisted of staff from Port Otago, the Department of Conservation (Doc), the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust, Ray White employees and Ms Saxby - were observing the sea lion, it did not appear to move at all.
"The concern was that it was maybe entangled, but because it was under the wharf... no-one could obviously get any closer than where we were stood to see."
Ms Saxby went to open the gate to the bottom of the wharf so some of the group could get a closer look at the sea lion.
"Whilst we were looking at him, he very kindly and slowly showed us all of his limbs and his head, and he looked perfectly unentangled.
"We’re guessing he probably just had a large meal and was just sat there, dozing it off."
"He looked really healthy - quite rotund - so he had a big octopus probably in his stomach at this stage," Ms Saxby said.
The sea lion eventually swam off after all the attention he was getting, and Ms Saxby was only disappointed she could not spot his tag to add this tale to "his life story".
"We’re really glad that there were members of the public there keeping an eye out, because with lots of people fishing and things around there, entanglement in fishing gear isn’t entirely out of the realms of possibility.
"It was a happy ending all round, so that’s always good."
Doc Coastal Otago operations manager Gabriel Davies thanked staff from Port Otago, Dive Otago and Ray White for assisting in the response.
While on this occasion the sea lion was fine, Doc was always vigilant as marine wildlife becoming entangled in discarded fishing gear was a common problem.
"We’ve recently seen and attended to sea lions with recreational fishing hooks attached to them.
"Along with fishing line this an ongoing problem for sea lions, seals, and shags on the Otago coast."
Mr Davies asked people to take responsibility for their gear, not leave it behind, and to make an effort to scan the area for bits of line or hooks that may have been dropped.
