{"id":667388,"date":"2026-05-13T03:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/667388\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T03:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:43:10","slug":"community-mourns-as-mornington-peninsulas-sammy-the-seal-believed-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/667388\/","title":{"rendered":"Community mourns as Mornington Peninsula’s Sammy the seal believed dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

A beloved seal known to Mornington Peninsula locals as Sammy is believed to have died.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from Zoos Victoria said the Marine Response Unit was called to a rescue on the Mornington Peninsula on Tuesday, where a seal was found dead.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, we’re unable to confirm that it’s Sammy, only that there is a very strong likelihood that it is,” they said.<\/p>\n

“It’s horrible news for the community.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sammy the Seal was well known to Mornington Peninsula locals. (Facebook: Sammy the Seal)<\/p>\n

They said DNA testing was unable to confirm the identity of the marine mammal, as there was no original sample to compare.<\/p>\n

“The cause of death isn’t clear at this time, but tests were conducted that could reveal a cause in the next few weeks,” they said.<\/p>\n

In April, Sammy the seal caused amusement on Point Nepean Road in Dromana by sunbathing on the road, delighting motorists despite causing delays.<\/a><\/p>\n

Police helped direct traffic and orange traffic cones were set up to protect the seal.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Dromana resident Carolyn Savage told ABC Melbourne radio she learnt through social media that Sammy had been found at Coral Cove in Mornington, south-east of Melbourne.<\/p>\n

“He had become a bit of an icon the last few months. People were sort of spotting him everywhere, playing in the water, catching fish, lying on the road,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The last time I saw him was a week or two ago. He was at the boat ramp in the car park at Safety Beach.<\/p>\n

“He just kind of lies around in the sun and just doesn’t have a care in the world.”<\/p>\n

\"Cars<\/p>\n

In April, orange traffic cones were in place to protect Sammy the seal from passing motorists. (Supplied: Laura Ellen)<\/p>\n

Locals on social media have described the mammal as a “big beautiful boy” who “lounged around like he owned the place”, with others calling for a monument to be built in tribute to Sammy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Facebook page posing as Sammy the seal posted to its 7,000 followers on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sammy the seal was seen regularly lounging at Safety Beach on the Mornington Peninsula. (Facebook: Sammy the Seal)<\/p>\n

“What started as a few little updates turned into an entire community loving him, looking out for him and smiling every time someone spotted him lounging around the Peninsula like he owned the place,” the post said.<\/p>\n

“The beaches are going to feel a little quieter without our boy around.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A beloved seal known to Mornington Peninsula locals as Sammy is believed to have died. A spokesperson from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,322146,322144,94599,322145,151426,44,322143,29338,9530],"class_list":["post-667388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dead-seal","tag-dromana","tag-marine-mammal","tag-marine-rescue-unit","tag-mornington-peninsula","tag-news","tag-sammy-the-seal","tag-seal","tag-zoos-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}