There's a fur-seal on the couch!!

Cheeky seal's antics surprise experts

Bay of Plenty Times | 11:25AM - Thursday, December 15, 2011

SEAL VISITOR

MARINE EXPERTS have shared their surprise at a cheeky Tauranga seal whose couch-surfing antics at a stranger's house have made headlines across the world.

Lucky the fur seal pup — named after its knack for crossing busy Tauranga streets without wearing tyre tracks — has become a media hit since inviting itself into Annette Swoffer's Welcome Bay home and on to her sofa for a lie-down on Sunday night.

The seal was videoed by a shocked Mrs Swoffer resting its head against the arm rest — perhaps worn out from causing more mischief at another house 5km away that day before squeezing through her tiny cat door.

It was the second of three times it has attracted call-outs for Department of Conservation rangers, who had already returned it back in the sea twice and aren't convinced it won't drop in to someone else's house soon.

By yesterday, the seal had made a splash in newspapers across the country, on Campbell Live and inspired puns by the British media — the Daily Mail matching a picture of the snuggled-up seal with a headline "Pipe and flippers, sir?" and the Huffington Post saying Mrs Swoffer's home won the "seal of approval".

The Bay of Plenty Times' first report on Lucky's home invasion, with cute pictures of it reclining on the couch, was the most popular story on BayofPlentyTimes.co.nz early today.

Mrs Swoffer's theory on how the seal came to slide through the cat flap and up her stairs is shared by wildlife expert and Otago University senior lecturer Dr Bruce Robertson.

Dr Robertson said: "When they get on to land, they don't have very good vision as their eyes are suited for the water. Possibly, it's seen a similarly dark cat and followed it through a cat flap and once inside it's made itself at home."

http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/cheeky-seals-antics-surprise-marine-experts/1209711