Seal leaves Shire sanctuary
The unexpected journey of Sammy the Seal to the Hobbiton movie set has, unlike Tolkien’s tales, come to an abrupt end.
It was a strange time for folk at the Shire, after the young fur seal waddled in from surrounding farmland on October 17.
He did not want to leave either, making the set his home for a fortnight or so.
And why wouldn’t he? Hobbiton Lake was seething with eels and Sammy could sunbathe, sated, on the foreshore.
Visitors also took a shine to the seemingly out-of-place character. The only one not so keen on the interloper was Pickles, the movie set cat, who no longer lounged in the spotlight alone.
But the new month turned another page on Sammy’s untold story.
He was last seen in a small waterway on a neighbouring farm on November 3, Hobbiton deputy chief executive Shayne Forrest told Stuff.
He has about 90km of landlocked waterways to navigate in order to reach the vast expanse of ocean in the Firth of Thames once more.
Forrest was pleased to hear Sammy was safe and making his way in the right direction, away from the Kaimai Range.
‘‘Hopefully he is making his way to the big wide ocean next,’’ Forrest said.
Hobbiton sits within a 500-hectare sheep and beef farm in the heart of Waikato.
It is believed the young male seal swam up the Waitoa River, which branches off the Piako River, before lolloping over farmland into The Shire.
Other maritime mammals have also set off up the riverine highway in the past. In 2020, a pod of about 60 dolphins made their way from the Firth of Thames up the Piako River.
Yet it was still the quintessential unexpected journey for Forrest: ‘‘We didn’t expect he would pop up at The Shire.’’
‘‘We made sure he was happy and healthy. He didn’t at any stage seem aggressive or unhappy to be there, and he was not really concerned about people. We gave him the space he needed.’’
After 10 years working at the set, Forrest has never seen anything like it.
‘‘We have seen some interesting costumes but they usually leave at the end of the day. Sammy just stayed here.
‘‘It was good fun but it was sad to see him go.’’
Sammy was named after the film’s fictional character Samwise Gamgee – the loyal hobbit who joined Frodo Baggins on his journey into Mordor.
The Department of Conservation, which has a hands-off approach with seals and would only intervene if the animal is in obvious danger, also agreed the seal would move on when it wanted to.
Between mid-November to mid-January adult males head to breeding colonies, in preparation for the breeding season. Those that are not of breeding age or condition will go wherever they feel like.
DOC marine specialist Laura Boren, previously told Stuff it was not the first time seals had turned up in unusual places. They generally follow a body of water for a fair distance and in some cases travel up to 100km inland.
‘‘We have seen some interesting costumes but they usually leave at the end of the day. Sammy just stayed here. It was good fun but it was sad to see him go. ’’
Hobbiton deputy chief executive