A sleep-deprived fur seal gave a concerned Dunedin woman more than she expected yesterday morning.
Andersons Bay resident Margaret Patterson (79) had seen the seal near the inlet a few days earlier and thought it looked sick.
Yesterday, noticing it on the Portobello causeway near Shore St, Mrs Patterson thought it was dead.
However, the seal proved to be very much alive. As she walked past it lunged at her, spurring her to make a dash.
Department of Conservation officer Jim Fyfe said the fur seal had been around the upper harbour for about a month.
It had probably ventured outside its usual habitat because it was the middle of the breeding season, a time when males were particularly aggressive towards each other.
Mr Fyfe said he had coaxed the seal back into the water about 10 times following calls from the police and the public concerned for its safety.
Although the seal appeared to have a plentiful food supply in the form of octopus, it was having trouble finding somewhere quiet to get enough sleep, he said.
The next step might be to relocate the seal to a remote beach well away from the city.
