Auckland's resident leopard seal, Owha, is recovering at Westhaven Marina after chomping on a fish hook.
If it wasn't for the keen eye of Auckland boaties, who spotted something hanging out of her mouth, that could have been her last meal.
Foaming at the mouth and weak, Owha the sea leopard has been parked up at Auckland's Westhaven Marina for days with a hook, line and sinker stuck in her mouth.
"We don't know how long she's had the line in her mouth, but it was reported two days ago," LeopardSeals.org co-founder Dr Ingrid Visser said.
After that report from local boaties, Dr Visser - along with a team from Auckland Zoo and the Department of Conservation - devised a plan.
"The thing we had to do, we had to make sure Owha wasn't upset because we didn't want her to leave the area," Dr Visser said.
After observing her behaviour they took about 30 minutes to get into position.
"We crept up very slowly relatively close to her, still about 10 metres away until we got the pole close enough to cut the line," Dr Visser said.
The team believes Owha swallowed a hook which may still be in her stomach. But they have managed to get close enough to cut her free of metres of line, and a spiky sinker they were worried would impale her.
The three-metre sea leopard has been in New Zealand waters for almost 10 years, making her the only known urban sea leopard.
Her first reported sighting was in Dunedin in 2012, but more recently she's been an Auckland Harbour regular.
"She's not to be feared, in fact she's an icon," Dr Visser said.
The team hopes she will pass the hook naturally, and say her behaviour has been much more settled today suggesting Owha is in recovery mode.
