Pups found without heads
Police were called in after six fur seal pups were found decapitated in a popular Christchurch bay.
A tourism operator discovered the 11-month-old seals floating in the tidal wash at Scenery Nook on the south side of Banks Peninsula on Monday.
Department of Conservation staff couldn’t find the heads and believe the pups may have been killed elsewhere before being dumped from a boat in the bay.
DoC Mahaanui operations manager Andy Thompson called the deaths “cruel and senseless”.
“Due to the disturbing, brutal and violent nature of this crime against defenceless seal pups, it has been reported to the police,” he said.
Fur seals/kekeno are protected under the Marine Mammals Protection Act.
It is a criminal offence to harass, disturb or harm them.
Three of the seals were buried by DoC rangers, the other three were sent to Massey University for a necropsy.
“While the necropsy will determine the exact cause of death, we believe it’s incredibly unlikely sharks would have bitten the heads off six seals but left the bodies untouched,” Thompson said.
“If you saw anything suspicious, please let us know by ringing 0800 HOT DOC (0800 362 468),” he said.
There have been cases of people injuring or killing seals after becoming frustrated by low fish numbers and blaming the mammals.
But Thompson said 90 per cent of Banks Peninsula fur seals’ diet was made up of lantern fish, not sought after in fishing.