Six fur seal pups have been found decapitated at a popular bay in Christchurch, New Zealand.
A tourism operator discovered the 11-month-old animals floating in the tidal wash at Scenery Nook on the south side of Banks Peninsula on Monday, The Department of Conservation (DOC) said in a statement.
DOC staff could not find the seals' heads and believe they may have been killed elsewhere before being potentially dumped from a boat and left to be found by visitors to the scenic bay.
DOC Mahaanui operations manager, Andy Thompson, called their deaths "cruel and senseless".
"Due to the disturbing, brutal and violent nature of this crime against defenceless seal pups, it has been reported to the police," he said.
Three of the seals have since been buried by DOC rangers, while the other three have been sent to Massey University for an autopsy.
"While the necropsy will determine the exact cause of death, we believe it's incredibly unlikely sharks would have bitten the heads off six seals but left the bodies untouched," Mr Thompson said.
DOC is appealing for people to report any sightings of boats in the area since late last week.
There are several known cases of people injuring or killing seals after becoming frustrated over low fish numbers in the ocean.
"Regrettably, antagonism towards seals is often due to the misplaced belief that seals are eating large amounts of fish species valued for human consumption. That isn't the case," Mr Thompson said.
"Research shows 90 per cent of Banks Peninsula fur seal diet is made up of lantern fish which are not sought after in fishing."
