Composite photo by LSPH Damian Pawlenko.

For some weeks Sammy the seal made his home at Fleet Base Five in Sydney.

Oblivious to the movement on the wharf, the crowds lining for pies and peas at the adjoining Harry's Café de Wheels and the traffic in Cowper Wharf Roadway, the seal was often spotted asleep on a sea wall or gambolling in the waters of Woolloomooloo Bay.

His presence also brought out a two-legged 'wag'. That person wrote on the banner advertising the visit of ships to the base for the Centenary Fleet Review ...."plus one seal". Alas before the fleet arrived Sammy was off and spending days near Circular Quay.