Six baby seals found decapitated at New Zealand’s Canterbury Bay

DOC Mahaanui operations manager Andy Thompson said the deaths were cruel and senseless. Due to the disturbing, brutal and violent nature of this crime against defenseless seal pups, it has been reported to the police.

MADDISON NORTHCOTT: ‘Six decapitated fur seals have been found near Christchurch. The Department of Conservation (DOC) said the 11-month-old seals were found by a tourism operator floating in the tidal wash at Scenery Nook, a remote bay in Banks Peninsula, on Monday. When DOC visited the bay there was no sign of the seals heads… DOC Mahaanui operations manager Andy Thompson said the deaths were cruel and senseless. “Due to the disturbing, brutal and violent nature of this crime against defenseless seal pups, it has been reported to the police”… Three of the seals have been buried by DOC rangers, while the other three have been sent to Massey University for a necropsy (autopsy)…

In August, 41 dead fur seals – one mum and 40 pups – were found in Te Oka Bay, near Christchurch, by a couple out walking. Foul play was ruled out and officials believed they may have died after being washed up by high seas. In 2005, three Otago farmers, including former All Black Andrew Hore, were convicted and fined for killing a protected fur seal on the Otago coast… Seals are protected under the Marine Mammals Protection Act. It is a criminal offence to harass, disturb or harm them, but there have been several cases of people injuring or killing seals after becoming frustrated over low fish numbers in the ocean. Anyone charged with killing a marine mammal faces a maximum penalty of two years in jail or a maximum fine of $250,000′. SOURCE…

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