Beach walkers along the east coast, north of Kaikoura, may encounter this unusual sight of a true albino New Zealand fur seal.
The seal has cream-coloured fur, white eyes and blotchy pink flippers.
Department of Conservation staff from Kaikoura spotted the seal at a colony on Sunday morning, and ranger Mike Morrissey says that it could be the same one he spotted there about four years ago.
"I'd never seen anything like it before," he said.
"This could well be the same pup – it looks about four years old. It's certainly not a common occurrence."
Further tests could be done if the seal was found again by DOC, to determine whether it was from one of the known colonies along the coast, Mr Morrissey said.
