School holiday crowds have been wowed by a playful seal which has been taking some R & R on a sunny rock shelf in Newcastle.
He was first spotted by delighted locals on Thursday morning, after wondering up Nobbys beach between the flags.
The seal has been drawing a crowd not far from where the Pasha Bulker ran aground in June last year.
The semi aquatic marine mammals spend much of their lives in the water, but are also quite adept moving around on land due to their flat flippers which also work quite well as feet.
The nearest seal colony to Newcastle is on Montague Island near Narooma on the New South Wales south coast.
National Parks and Wlidlife officers who were on crowd control duty next to Sammy this week, say while he is a New Zealand Fur Seal, he lives in Australian waters.
Outside of mating season, seals often roam great distances, but will occaisionally stop and rest.
Late Friday afternoon, Sammy was spotted re-entering the water.
After seemingly waving to the crowd of onlookers, he paddled off into the ocean at a small Newcastle surf spot known as the Cowrie Hole.
Whether he was continuing his voyage or just going fishing, we’re not sure.
