Seal pup found in a paddock kilometres away from the sea

A juvenile long-nosed fur seal has been found in a paddock three kilometres from the sea.

A South Australian farmer found the animal on his farm near Cowell.

Australian Marine Wildlife Research Rescue Organisation’s Aaron Machado says seals turn up in all sorts of strange places at this time of year.

“They leave their parents in the colonies at 12 months and they stay for the first six months at sea island hopping, and normally end up about 200 nautical miles south of Tasmania and then they return around this time of year,” he told Heidi Murphy, filling in for Neil Mitchell.

Mr Machado said it’s not uncommon for young seals which are venturing from the colony for the first time to wash up malnourished and get lost.

“For an animal that small, when you walk 50 metres away from the water, you turn around and you can’t see the water anymore, so they just keep walking,” he said.

“They quite often will go quite a distance from water to relax. Not three kilometres, I’d say that’s a bit out of the ordinary.”

The seal was taken back to the beach.

Press PLAY below to hear how the seal got so far from the sea

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