A young seal pup has been driven to safety by good Samaritans after it was found on Rocks Rd this morning.
Robyn Byers was out for a morning Level 4 walk along Rocks Rd when she stopped to take a photo of a black swan swimming in the harbour.
"I was walking to the beach and took a photo of the swan, which I thought was my joy for the day, and then I walked along and saw her."
'Her' was a young fur seal pup sitting on the fishing platform on a section of Rocks Rd.
Noticing that the closest stairs or access to water was at least a few hundred metres away, Robyn and another passerby contacted the Department of Conservation and SPCA.
A DOC duty officer came to help and called upon DOC staff member Graeme Elliott, who lives on Rocks Rd to assist with a rescue mission.
"I've wrestled with seals a bit, so they called me down," Graeme says. "Normally my advice would be to leave them alone and if it hadn't been for the traffic hazard that's what we would've done."
The group shepherded her onto a large canvas Graeme had laid out.
"Then Graeme, quick as a wink, bundled her up like she was in a Christmas sack and carried her to his car," says Robyn.
"I was trying to hold the sack shut but she was climbing out in the car so Graeme climbed in the boot with her and he was holding her while I jumped in to drive his car."
The pair drove to the launching ramp at the Nelson Yacht Club on Wakefield Quay where they carried the seal, still wrapped in the canvas, down to the water's edge before unwrapping her.
The seal pup, who Graeme says would've only recently left her mother, was quite comfortable basking on the canvas for some time before she slowly made her way over to nearby rocks.
He says this is the time of year that young seals typically turn up on beaches and coastlines as they learn to fend for themselves.
His advice is to leave them alone if you do see them on shore.
"It's perfectly natural and if it wasn't for the traffic hazard we should've left it where it was."
Robyn says it was "a wonderful way to start the day".
"When I saw her I thought 'oh how cute' and 'where's your mummy', it's great to see her back on the rocks."
She says she often sees seals basking down on the rocks but not usually such young ones.
The seal ended her morning adventure relaxing on the rocks under the Seafarers' Memorial on Wakefield Quay.
