A pair of little blue penguins found behind a rubbish bin in central Wellington have been spotted swimming away from a penguin haven where they had been resettled today.

Photo: AGAMI Photo Agency/123rf

Mike Rumble, a penguin expert and volunteer for Department of Conservation (DOC), had said the penguins might not be the same pair that were removed from a sushi bar in the city a week ago.

He said members of the public reported spotting of them at the corner of Featherston St and Stout St just after 6pm in the evening.

"It's a little distance away from the pair that were under the sushi bar, and I suspect they're not necessarily the same pair. It's hard to tell without markings," he said.

He said just in case it was the same pair, they decided to take them to a penguin haven in the northern end of Days Bay, to provide them a better environment for nesting.

The male penguin was banded before they were placed in a nesting box at the sanctuary, which is at Days Bay on the opposite side of Wellington harbour to the city.

Mr Rumble said the birds chatted together for a short while, before clambering out of the nesting box, getting into the sea and swimming away.

He said they might swim back across the harbour to Wellington city.