RICHMOND, New Zealand — As the joke goes, a duck walks into a bar, but this time it wasn’t a duck but a seal that was in the wrong place.
A baby fur seal galumphed into Sprig + Fern The Meadows bar in Richmond, New Zealand, The Associated Press reported.
At first, the co-owner thought the pup was really a pup, but the K-9 version, not the seal one, since the establishment is pet-friendly.
“Everyone was in shock,” Bella Evans said. “Oh my gosh. What do we do? What’s going on?”
At first, a patron tried to encourage the seal to leave out the back but it hid in a restroom before finding sanctuary under a dishwasher, the AP reported.
One patron ran home and got a dog crate to help capture it.
At first they were going to try some pizza as bait but then Evans realized they had a better meal to offer the seal.
“I just went to my fiancé, I said ”Grab the salmon! Grab the salmon!," Evans said.
Eventually, conservation rangers arrived and picked up the seal, one that they had already been tracking.
“It was their fourth call for the day,” Evans said. “They had been driving around this new-build subdivision trying to find this baby seal.”
The seal was released on Rabbit Island.
Conservation spokesperson Helen Otley said it is common for seals to turn up in odd areas as they follow rivers and streams inland.
“They can turn up in unusual places, like this pub, but this is normal exploratory behavior,” Otley said.
Evans said the seal was the first patron they’ve had to remove. But they said they’d welcome back the animal, whom they named Fern, the AP reported.
They’re also having a good laugh, adding that they’re keeping salmon on the menu.
“There’s been the running joke that we’ve got the seal of approval,” she said.