Invercargill man saves baby seal from paddock, 10km from beach

By Matiu Workman

A shocked resident came across an unbelievable find after the southern downpour in Invercargill.

Dee Knapp was out checking for new lambs on his Tuatapere property when he stumbled across what he thought was an injured bird - and got a major surprise when he realised it was a baby seal.

"Blow me away, it's a baby seal in the middle of my paddock, in the middle of nowhere," Knapp said.

"I'm 10km from the nearest beach and 2km from the nearest river and I thought, 'what do we have here?'"

The Department of Conservation told him to let nature take its course but Knapp said that advice didn't sit well with him.

"I made the executive decision to wrap him in a blanket, bring him inside, give him a feed then take him to Blue Cliffs Beach and release him," he added.

He even gave the 2-week old pup a name: Lu-seal.