Hawke’s Bay weather: Fur seal greets bike riders near Napier airport as new season ushered into Hawke’s Bay

A small smattering of rain and wind is set to usher in spring to Hawke’s Bay next week, with some decent heat - perfect conditions for a fur seal hanging out in Napier.

Forecast highs up to 21 degrees Celsius are expected to grace the region until Tuesday, with some isolated showers and strong westerlies expected early in the week.

There have already been a few days over 20C this week in Napier and Hastings, and unsuspecting bike riders near Napier Airport got quite a surprise when they were greeted by a fur seal lounging in the sun near the cycleway.

“It was about as far away from the open sea as a seal can get,” said local Jan Brock, whose husband came across the creature on Tuesday.

“It looked quite healthy. My husband informed the Department of Conservation about it,” she said.

A lone fur seal greeted bikers near the Napier Airport this week as spring approaches. Photo / Jan Brock

Grant Bennett, DoC’s Napier operations manager, said staff located the seal on some grass adjacent to the bike track about 4.30pm on Tuesday.

“The animal – an adult fur seal, gender unknown - was snoozing and really minding its own business. We deemed it low-risk, and as it was getting dark, we opted not to move it along but placed orange cones and signage nearby to warn the public of its whereabouts.”

DoC team members returned on Wednesday to check on the seal, and it remained in the same spot.

“It let out a few growls at our staff to let them know it wanted to be left alone. At this point, we’ll leave it where it is. As it’s a “no dogs” area, we think it’s fairly safe from harm.”

Bennett said people should continue to give the seal plenty of space – a minimum of 20m - and leave it alone.

It’s not the first seal to break from the pack and bask in the warmth this month. A lone leopard seal was spotted on Marine Parade a few Sundays ago on the limestone by the basketball courts.

End to a winter of record-breakers

While four seasons in one winter may sound a bit farfetched, it might come as no surprise to those in Hawke’s Bay that multiple weather records were broken between June and August.

On the 18th, Napier airport’s maximum August temperature was 22.3C, a new record for the station, which has records going back to 1973.

“The 18th of August this year was particularly warm as an unusually warm airmass was brought across the country from the northwest,” Ferris said.

Hastings also hit a winter high of 25.6C on June 10, beating a national winter temperature record set in 1988. The coldest morning of the season also came early, with the mercury dipping to -3.7C at one weather station in Hastings.

Ferris said people shouldn’t try to attribute a “daily record” to a climatic cycle like La Niña / El Niño.

“However, if you were speaking about monthly/seasonal warmth/rainfall, then it makes more sense. We are currently in a neutral state of Enso and have been all winter.

Enso is the oscillation between El Niño and La Niña states in the Pacific region.

“Compared to average, June was warmer and wetter (about 2x average rain). July was drier and average temperature-wise. August is average temperature-wise and will likely come in just a touch drier than average. But overall, this winter will be slightly wetter than normal and slightly warmer.”

Looking to the future, Ferris said long-range models suggest a westerly bias across the country for spring, which would tend to mean warmer-than-average months for Hawke’s Bay and less-than-average rainfall.

“But seasonal outlook forecasts won’t capture singular events where a month of rainfall could fall in a single day or a southerly pushing up the East Coast, making for a couple of cold days on the trot.”

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community.