A baby fur seal affectionally known as Chewie is recovering well after being found on a New South Wales beach with significant wounds.
Warning: This story contains some images that people may find distressing
The juvenile was found earlier this month at Grassy Head, north of South West Rocks on the state's Mid North Coast, with severe injuries that were likely sustained in either a shark attack, an encounter with a boat propeller, or both.
But it is now recovering well, according to vet Duan March from Dolphin Marine Conservation Park.
"He was in a pretty bad state, he had some really big wounds up on his chest and his back left flipper was in a pretty bad state," he said.
"At the moment everything looks pretty good, his blood's come back normal, X-rays showed no significant fractures but he is missing one of the little bones in that back flipper.
"So, now it's just trying to make sure he doesn't get an infection with those wounds and getting a bit of body condition back on him."
Rehabilitation the focus
Mr March said Chewie was a long-nosed fur seal, normally found around southern Australia and New Zealand.
At the moment he weighs just 10 kilograms and is about 80 centimetres long, but he could grow to as much as 160kg and 2 metres in length.
When he is strong enough he will be released.
"The plan is just TLC and we've got to make sure those wounds don't get infected," Mr March said.
"He was in a pretty poor body condition when he came in as well, so just getting some meat back on his bones and some energy reserves built back up.
"The most important thing is to make sure he doesn't become habituated during rehabilitation. The last thing we want is for him to be healthy but see humans as a source of food.
"We've got to make sure that he doesn't think that he's a pet so that we can get him back out in the wild."
