The sea lion pup left by its mother on Waldronville beach last week has died.
Department of Conservation coastal ranger Jim Fyfe said there had been no sightings of the 10-day-old female pup's mother since it was born, and the pup died of starvation at the weekend.
"We were obviously pretty worried about it, but its best chance for survival was to leave it and wait for mum to come back."
He said mothers had been known to return to their pups up to nine days later. But in this case, the pup just could not last that long and died of starvation.
"It's heart-rending, but it's a natural process."
However, the little blue penguin which has made its home near a pontoon in Dunedin's Steamer Basin is alive and far from starving.
Mr Fyfe said Doc had been keeping a close eye on the bird following feedback from fishermen who said it had become hooked trying to steal bait from lines.
He asked people not to feed the penguin because it was not good for it to be dependent on humans.
Mr Fyfe advised anglers to call Doc if they accidentally caught the penguin on their line, then gently remove it and put it back in the water. There were no plans to remove the penguin from the Steamer Basin area, he said.
