Seal prompts road closure in Ahuriri, Napier, after an early morning shuffle

A seal (inset) wandered across a Napier street on Tuesday before being escorted safely back to the ocean. Photo / NZ Police

A Napier street was shut briefly for an early morning shuffle as police and members of the public escorted a sleek visitor back into the ocean.

A seal was spotted crossing Hardinge Rd in Ahuriri about 5.15am on Tuesday.

Police were called and blocked the road while members of the public escorted the marine mammal back into the ocean.

Hardinge Rd runs along the waterfront close to Napier Port.

“We arrived and blocked off the road until the seal was helped out of harm’s way by members of the public,” a police spokesperson said.

Two cafes were unaware of the early morning adventure nearby when contacted by Hawke’s Bay Today, but it was soon to become the talk of the beachfront village.

There has been a flurry of seal sightings around Napier in recent months including one spotted basking in the sun on Marine Parade in August, another which greeted cyclists on a bike track near Napier Airport later that month, and another catching an eel in a Taradale stream in June.