Decapitated fur seals weren't killed by humans, Department of Conservation says

Thursday, 10 January 2019

The fur seal pups were found dead in Banks Peninsula. (File photo)

Six fur seal pups who were mysteriously decapitated may have been killed by another seal, the Department of Conservation (DOC) has found.

The seals were found dead in December 2018, and a necropsy has since ruled out the possibility of foul play by humans.

The pups were discovered by a tourism operator, floating in the tidal wash at Scenery Nook on the south side of Banks Peninsula on December 19.

They were found together and and had no visible damage or bite marks to other parts of their bodies.

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Niwa equipped 25 Antarctic Weddell seals with cameras to learn more about their behaviour and environment as they look for food under the ice.

DOC initially suspected people were to blame and publicly appealed for information.

To determine the exact cause of death, DOC sent three of the dead seals to Massey University for a necropsy.

DOC Mahaanui operations manager Andy Thompson said the necropsy ruled out human-inflicted injuries.

'We're really pleased to have been proven wrong and people aren't to blame, but the mystery continues. We still don't know for certain what has removed the heads and flippers of the six seals.'

The report found the seal pups injuries weren't consistent with any land-based predator or scavenger, but the nature of the injuries indicated they could have potentially been killed by another seal.

The bodies were found at Scenery Nook, on the southern end of Banks Peninsula.

'It's possible other fur seals killed the pups which would be the first record of this in New Zealand, however attacks among the same seal species have been recorded in other countries.'

Another theory was that a leopard seal or a sea lion could be to blame for the deaths, but sea lions were rarely seen around Banks Peninsula, he said.

'It's still unusual only the heads were removed and there were no additional bite marks to the bodies – although there was evidence of soft tissue bruising, indicating at least some of the damage was inflicted before the pups were killed.'

As the necropsy has indicated no foul play, DOC's approach to fur seal management is to let nature run its course and the department was no longer appealing for sightings of boats in the area or investigating the incident.

'The reality is we might never solve this mystery – we're just relieved this macabre incident is not at the hands of humans.'