Big boy on a moulting tour

A juvenile elephant seal plays at the Kaikorai Estuary, Dunedin, on Wednesday afternoon.

The seal was previously seen lounging in the sands at St Kilda Beach a month ago.

Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Jim Fyfe said it had been coming and going from local areas and had spent about a week in both St Kilda and at Kaikorai earlier, but had been seen as far as Sunnyvale.

When first seen, the pinniped was in the early stages of moulting, but now seemed to be in the final stages.

Elephant seals moulted annually and released skin as well as fur, unlike the more common fur seal, he said.

The creature was about 3m long and was estimated to be 2 years old.

Male elephant seals could live to be about 13 years old and could weigh a couple of tons, he said.

The deep-diving species spent most of its time at sea, but came ashore during moulting season.