Weak and malnourished seal euthanised after coming ashore in Wellington

A young seal has been euthanised after it came ashore in Wellington in a severely malnourished and weak state.

The Department of Conservation has confirmed the seal has been moved to a more secluded location to euthanise and bury it.

The seal spent the night at Oriental Bay beach with HUHA wildlife response lead Jonathan Lambregts watching over it.

Lambregts said a seal had been spotted near the boat sheds at Oriental Bay on Saturday and there was another sighting of a seal closer to the beach on Sunday, but it's unclear whether it was the same one.

When Lambregts arrived at the beach at about 5 o'clock last night he said the seal was not in a good way.

"You could see all the ribs, you could see the pelvis, the spinal column. It had no blubber and was sitting with its fins under its body trying to thermoregulate."

The seal also had a barb lodged in the side of its head.

"We believe it was from a spiny-dogfish so it obviously made a poor dinner decision."

Lambregts erected fencing and cones around the area the seal was in so it couldn't be disturbed by dogs and members of the public.

Wellington Zoo confirmed it sent veterinary experts from The Nest Te Kōhanga to assess the seal this morning.

Lambregts said the decision was made to euthanise the seal given its malnutrition and very weak state.

"At least the decision was made and its not still sitting there in pain and suffering."

The seal was sedated and taken away this morning.

The Department of Conservation said the vet who assessed the seal did not believe removing the spine would improve its chances of survival.

Science adviser Laura Boren said it was unlikely the barb was directly related to the seal's condition.

"Also, if we did remove it, there was no guarantee he would actually be able to recover because his body condition was so poor. So in that situation, it was decided the most humane thing to do was to euthanise it."

"The seal is now at rest and is not suffering any more."

Boren said it was common during this time of year to see seals coming ashore.

She said people should give them space, especially if they were in poor condition so they could rest and recover.

Seals were usually pretty resilient, Boren said.