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More threats to Auckland's resident leopard seal after sunken dinghy

Auckland's resident leopard seal has received more threats against her life after a dinghy sunk, off Herald Island, on Wednesday night.

It is believed that an inflatable dingy that slowly sunk on Wednesday night was popped by Owha, prompting threats, including the use of a firearm.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/300042182/more-threats-to-aucklands-resident-leopard-seal-after-sunken-dinghy
 

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56 minutes ago, Knot Me... maybe said:

Ya do have to laugh at some people. Why bother asking those who are actually sussing things to see what the real story is when you can just listen to a bunch of no idea muppets wapping on the internet instead.

If anyone cares to speak to the team in Dunners who are studying leapord seals and are working beside all those up here that are watching the big bit of dingy munching blubber they can ask questions like 'What happened to her nose?' and they will all quite happily tell you what they, and the 3 vets they had a close look at her, reckon was the cause.

Due to responcibilities in the area and as I put that bounty on Blubbers head after she ate a pile of safety boats I do get to chat to these organisations often and Mrs Plod once...oppps. They are very interesting chats with very interesting people, especialy the lady in Dunners whos got a tricky name. She has some awesome knowledge about these things and she can now predict, with reasonable accuracy, Blubbers macro movements, most interesting.

Anyway to the score board we go to find who is saying what..........

Internet experts with all their minutes of expertise and one photo - She scratched herself

Multiple vets with decades of training and expertise plus the entire team closely studying her and her kind NZ wide - Gunshot wound

Who is that masked man, and what have they done with Knot Me?

Good to see they finally got the fibre into the Banana Bread Bay Brothel...

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It is interesting that the researcher, LeopardSeals.org co-founder Dr Krista Hupman, thinks that the problem of dinghies being destroyed is caused by boaties:

"It is the responsibility of boat owners to ensure their dinghies and fenders are pulled out of the water to prevent any damage."

So can we no longer tie a dinghy behind our boat, or leave a fender hanging to prevent damage?

 

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3 minutes ago, ex Elly said:

It is interesting that the researcher, LeopardSeals.org co-founder Dr Krista Hupman, thinks that the problem of dinghies being destroyed is caused by boaties:

"It is the responsibility of boat owners to ensure their dinghies and fenders are pulled out of the water to prevent any damage."

So can we no longer tie a dinghy behind our boat, or leave a fender hanging to prevent damage?

 

In short no.

Well, you can. But don't complain if it gets destroyed...

To be fair, there is a known risk now of having an inflatable boat in the water. If that risk is known, you need to either address it or accept the risk. Ways to address it are:

1) take up golf (and give up boating)

2) take your dinghy out of the water

3) get a hard dinghy

4) accept the risk, in which case I'd get the cheapest bullshit deflatable I can find, no point in getting a top shelf Southern Pacific yadda yadda dinghy.

The fender issue is a newer one. How to stop your boat getting munted on the dock... we normally use a fender...

 

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Elly u are onto it.

I'd imagine that the people at Juicy Rentals feel the same way about  Keas. Hear the tourists when we had em exclaim "Aww look at the cute liddle mountain pawwots ripping the wind screen sealant out .." 

Reluctantly I agree there are some similarities in the situation. Both are wild, both are apparently cute (seals don't do it for me but that's how I roll), both have habitat intrusion by naughty mankind, both suffering from global warming  (lets not get into that).

I just wish the seal would keep to its own backyard like the Keas do, and no I cannot accept "that the sea" is a brief summary of Leopard Seals backyards. 

The one difference I cannot overlook is that those pesky green ratbags don't eat people - like ever.

I'd be fine with a Kea visiting my backyard because I'm confident I'm not gonna loose a leg or anything. Cannot say same about the seal. Call me paranoid.

 

 

 

 

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Is it not true that leopard seals did hang around here prior to the sealers turning up? In which case this is their ancestral home.

Yes it makes me nervous too as our dinghy hardly ever leaves the water. My theory is she only eats white ones.

IMG-20190127-WA0011.jpeg

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55 minutes ago, Black Panther said:

My theory is she only eats white ones.

 

I'm sure that is a discriminatory statement on some level.

I'm even more sure, in these current times, that someone is going to take offence to that statement and feel deeply aggrieved.

I mean, my dinghy is grey, are you excluding my dinghy based on its colour, or the fact it is tucked up in a nice dry dinghy locker and is completely neglected by me, cause I never get to use my boat how I want to...?

Jokes aside, it would be interesting to know if she only eats the natural coloured dinghies, like red and yellow ones don't look much like any normal seal or other food source.

We could do a quick crew survey.

Anyone lost a brightly coloured dinghy to Owha?

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We could do an experiment. I'll leave my white deflatable, you and Fish leave your yellow and grey deflatables and we will see.

Did I mention my one is rooted already so i really don't care? 

 

 

 

 

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My one is brand new. I think I'll keep it safely tucked up in its dinghy locker... unless I get laid off next week, then I'll either be at Bon Accord, Sullivans or Ftizroy... and my dinghy will be in the water.

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How selfish... what about the greater good, and anyway my white deflatable is the 'bait'. Don't forget we'd be doing this in the name of science.

I am angling toward the hope that we might get an offer of some kind of gratuitous grant from DOC. Plus I would get a new dinghy.

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That's a good question Fish. Does Owha see in color even when it is spelt incorrectly? 

I'd expect she wouldn't know what colour it was - given she is a  native of an area about as far as u can get away from the land of piss poor spelling.

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1 hour ago, Romany said:

That's a good question Fish. Does Owha see in color even when it is spelt incorrectly? 

I'd expect she wouldn't know what colour it was - given she is a  native of an area about as far as u can get away from the land of piss poor spelling.

I was thinking white, grey, or black are all shades of things that naturally occur around where leopard seals normally live. Things like ice, penguins, other seals etc. Where as bright colours like yellow or red are fairly hard to confuse with, for example, a potentially amouris other leopard seal. My logic being that an inflatable tube could be mistaken for some sort of seal or something, either that or dinner, and Owha is just wanting to get lucky. If we can prove she has never shagged or eaten or brightly coloured one, it could be a way forward for those wanting to leave their dinghies in the water.

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3 minutes ago, Knot Me... maybe said:

What berth were you on when she came for that munch, Mr D Purple?

I get updates from the monitoring team and let them know of bits I see and hear. I told them about a couple of sightings and fender dinners she'd had. So if anyone has a incident can they please note what berth, or close as, where that is please and I'll let the team know. More detail gives them more to track and predict...not to mention the big seal in the room, pick up on any signs of behavioural changes, especially ones that may lead to her biting more than fenders, dingys and fish 

 

Closest berth to sails restaurant

 

962A473A-1FD9-4530-B2B3-BE6BCDCEE433.jpeg

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