Seal spotted in Tuross River

On a recent paddle near the top of Bumbo Creek, about 12 kilometres from the mouth of the Tuross River, Phil Byrne of Florey was shocked to notice "a large splash ahead of him".

"At this point the creek is about 20 metres across with lots of snags above and below the surface," reports Byrne, who often explores the Tuross River and its tributaries photographing wildlife.

"The source of the splash puzzled Byrne for some time because, as he recalls, "It was too big for any of the fish I had seen previously in the creek."

However, the cause was soon obvious when, according to Byrne, "All of a sudden a large seal surfaced with a huge fish in its mouth and he was coming straight towards me!"

Byrne, a seasoned kayaker, thought he "was finally going to be tipped over after all these years," adding, "but luckily the seal dived under and came up a little further downstream."

"From time to time he would rise up out of the water and thrash his head about trying to kill the fish he had in his mouth or break it in half," reveals Byrne who paddled after him and was able to take some shots of the seal's feeding frenzy.

"At one point he surfaced beside me and then disappeared as we went through a school of fish," explains Byrne who fished alongside the seal for a couple of hours before paddling back to Snake Flat.

"With great timing, as I drove off, the seal floated past me on the Tuross River on the outgoing tide with what appeared to be a pretty full belly," explains Byrne.

What is particularly surprising about Byrne's encounter is that the seal was so far up the Tuross River and in fact almost to the end of one of its tributaries.