A baby seal wriggled its way into a New Zealand bar this week and led confused staff members on a brief chase through the establishment. The fur seal surprised guests on Sunday evening at the craft beer bar, Sprig + Fern The Meadows, in Richmond. “Everyone was in shock,” said co-owner Bella Evans. “Oh my gosh. What do we do? What’s going on?” Evans told the Associated Press that she initially thought the creature was a dog entering the pet-friendly bar. Someone tried to use a sweater to get the seal to go out the bar’s back door, but it instead took a detour to the bathroom. Then, the semi-aquatic creature hid under the dishwasher. A customer grabbed a dog crate from home, and Evans tried to use one of the bar’s pizza toppings to entice the seal out of hiding. “I just went to my fiancé, I said, grab the salmon! Grab the salmon!” Evans told 9Now. Conservation rangers eventually arrived, revealing that they had already been tracking the seal after earlier sightings. It was released on Rabbit Island, a nearby island considered safe because it has no dogs, said Department of Conservation spokesperson Helen Otley.
A baby seal, apparently lost, curious and well below New Zealand’s legal drinking age, galumphed into a bar before being removed by rangers with the help of a dog crate and some salmon. pic.twitter.com/B9RVzKWaKw
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 4, 2025