Seal rescue along Beaconsfield Parade in Melbourne (UPDATED)

Beaconsfield Parade is one of Melbourne's most scenic roads. It winds south from the clutter of Port Melbourne along Port Phillip Bay's northeast coast, past gorgeous palm trees and white sand, through what were once working class suburbs but are today prized inner-city addresses.

Maybe that's what drew a fur seal to a busy Melbourne roadway this morning, not once but twice: Real estate.

More likely it was exhaustion. The photo above was taken after the seal was coerced via nets from a spot along Beaconsfield Parade into a container for transport to the Melbourne Zoo. Zoo spokeswoman Judith Henke has since been quoted in The Age:

The seal is a young, male, New Zealand fur seal. Sometimes, they come in from the Bass Straight for a bit of a rest. It could be that he’s just tired. He’s resting safely in the pool in quarantine and he’ll have another inspection tomorrow.

As a Wildlife Victoria volunteer I'd heard of the seal's first waltz across Beaconsfield Parade but before I could get there, WV's Amy Amato and two Victorian police officers were able to coerce him back into the water. Another Wildlife Victoria happy ending.

Not so fast. An hour later a second call came in.

Amy needed help with crowd control because the seal had once again crawled out of the bay's wind-swept waters, waddled up a beach, climbed over a stone wall that runs the length of Beaconsfield Parade, and was once again making a spectacle of himself along the 4-lane road. Aradhna and I live a short distance away so I arrived soon afterward to this scene (above).

Seal specialist Dr Michael Lynch and his team from Melbourne Zoo arrived 20 minutes later. Here's footage I took of what came next:I was contacted by Amy shortly after getting home -- Melbourne's Channel 7 News were going to interview her and wanted to know if we had footage. An hour later a reporter and his cameraman came to my place and downloaded the video above, along with some photos, all bearing a small 'Courtesy of Wildlife Victoria' caption. Curious to see if those photos are used and, if so, whether proper credit is given to WV.

FYI: Wildlife Victoria is a non-profit organisation that relies entirely upon the kindness and generosity of the public for funding. If you'd care to make a donation, or learn more about WV, please click here.

UPDATE
Channel 7 News in Melbourne used my video footage of the rescue (above) and two of my photos. Watch it here.