Spot the difference: Niwa biologist needs help tracking leopard seal

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

Owha the leopard seal has travelled from Auckland to Whangarei. (File photo)

A scientist on the trail of an Antarctic predator roaming the east coast of Marlborough can't work out if she's hunting one, or one of many.

Niwa cetacean biologist Dr Krista Hupman has photographs from four leopard seal sightings in Marlborough in the past 12 months.

But the Wellington-based scientist has been unable to confirm her suspicion - that it is the same seal - and needs Marlborough residents to help by sending her more photographs.

'A lot of the photographs are from different angles so it makes it very hard to identify the seal,' Krista says.

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The seal was first spotted at Te Koko-O-Kupe (Cloudy Bay), east of Blenheim, in October.

Since then it has been seen at the nearby Wairau Lagoon, and further south at Cape Campbell, east of Seddon. The most recent sighting was at the Wairau Bar, north of Blenheim, on August 5.

Krista has started a hotline so people can report sightings of leopard seals, and hopes to create a national database.

Leopard seals, named for their leopard-like markings, usually live in Antarctic waters, but new research shows they visit New Zealand waters more often than previously thought.

Krista is monitoring a leopard seal in Whangarei named Owha.

'It just seems to me that Owha likes this area, she's feeding really well at night and then hauling out during the day to have a snooze,' Krista says.

Her research shows Owha has been in New Zealand for at least five years.

'That is a world first. That is the longest continuous record anyone has of a leopard seal, even in Antarctica.'

Owha eats fish, little blue penguins and shags, and likes to visit all the boats in the marina that have dogs aboard.

Krista says Marlborough's leopard seal is unlikely to have much impact on the eco-system, and could live comfortably on the coast long-term.

'If we got multiple seals turning up it might have an effect. That's something we might see in the future, especially as the effects of climate change become more clear.'

She is keen to collect leopard seal excrement to study their diets, having heard stories of them eating sheep and stingrays since she started the hotline.

'Leopard seal poo is like gold to me. I'm probably the only person who thinks that, but I would love to pull it apart and see what bones or feathers or whatever is in there.'

Report leopard seal sightings by calling 0800 LEOPARD (0800 536 7273). Record the date, time and location, and if possible take a photograph, but do not approach as leopard seals have been known to be aggressive towards humans.