A vagrant seal many miles from home was spotted on a beach near Dunedin yesterday, in her species' first visit to Otago shores in recorded history.

Crabeater seals are usually found on pack ice around the Antarctic, but a 2m-long female in apparently good health was found resting on a beach near Dunedin yesterday, which the Otago Daily Times has chosen not to identify.

University of Otago student and LeopardSeals.org research assistant Giverny Forbes said she knew as soon as she saw the seal's distinctive snout it was a crabeater, and not a leopard seal, which has a head shaped like a rugby ball.

A crabeater seal casts a sleepy eye over her surroundings on a Dunedin beach yesterday. Photos: Gerard O'Brien

Ms Forbes said the species' name was a misnomer and the seals did not eat crabs.

''They're called crabeater seals but they're actually very specialised in hunting krill; they can sieve krill through their teeth.''

A 2015 research article by Colin Miskelly, of Te Papa, uncovered eight records of crabeater seals visiting New Zealand since the first sighting at the Whanganui River in 1885, mostly in the North Island, and none in Otago or Southland.

Giverny Forbes

Since then, one was found dead inland from Lake Ellesmere, Canterbury, in May this year, according to an online report, while another was euthanised after it washed up at a Horowhenua beach in 2017.

Ms Forbes said she believed the seal near Dunedin yesterday was almost fully grown and appeared to be in good condition.

However, it had some scars on its back, and a few scratches and puncture wounds which could be signs of a recent scrape with a leopard seal at sea - crabeaters form an important part of the diet of leopard seals and the pups are frequently eaten.

They are not endangered and Ms Forbes was unsure why one had turned up in the South, but she observed there had been a lot of krill around Otago recently.

True seals, like the leopard and crabeater species, came ashore only to sleep, so it was critical people did not disturb them by maintaining a safe distance and keeping 20m away.

A crabeater seal relaxes on a beach north of Dunedin yesterday. Photo: Gerard O'Brien

Anyone who saw a leopard or crabeater seal was urged to report them to 0800 LEOPARD, or if they were injured, entangled or being harassed, to 0800 DOC HOT.

george.block@odt.co.nz