A pair of Dunedin radio hosts have staged a mock funeral for a celebrity fur seal known as Dale in a video posted on their Facebook page.
Damian Newell and Jacob Kendall of The Breeze crack jokes about the deceased marine mammal, found dead last week, and knock a white cross into the roadside to a bagpipe version of 'Amazing Grace'.
Dale was a common fixture around the city's upper harbour area, often heading to land two or three times a week and prompting a number of call-outs for the Department of Conservation (DoC).
"To call Dale a pet would be doing him a great disservice," says Damian in the video.
"For he was wild and free. And not really that interested in house training. That left a lot to be desired and often, a lot to be shovelled up."
"This is where he became a global mega-star and featured on the BBC," adds Jacob.
"Right here, on Portsmouth Drive in Dunedin, he made us late to work, multiple times, and caused all sorts of strife. But Dale, I love you."
The duo also screw a memorial plaque into a seat on the road immortalising Dale, and leave tins of canned fish in his memory.
"There have been jokes about Dale's existence from the start and a bit of light-hearted humour at a funeral never goes amiss," says Jacob.
"We do genuinely miss him and we're not doing it as a joke. We are wanting to pay him respect and remember him as our mate."
Dale's body was found on train tracks last Wednesday afternoon, and it's believed he was hit by a train and killed instantly.
Newshub.