Sammy the Seal Comes To Gisborne

Nobody could ever remember a seal coming to Gisborne before. But one day earlier this month, there it was — a seal swimming about in the Turanganui River. In no time hundreds of children and dozens of adults were on the spot to see the strange visitor.

For some time the seal's exhibition was entirely aquatic. Then one Saturday afternoon he revealed his adopted home—a hole in the eastern embankment of the Gladstone Road bridge. A horde of children were soon there (picture on previous page) for a close look.

Coming up the mud bank, Sammy also revealed that he was a very young seal. A couple of days later, when a rainstorm hit Gisborne, he waddled out of the river, crossed Read's Quay, and sought shelter in the warehouse of the Loan and Mercantile Company, where the picture below was taken. A short while later, he was taken away by an S.P.C.A. inspector, for his own good, and released in the sea.

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Sammy barks as his picture is taken

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Coming out of the river

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Playing with a fish thrown to him.

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Swimming down the Taruheru, Sammy leaves a wide wake.