Seals and Sea Lions

I saw both Australian Sea Lions and New Zealand Fur Seals both in Tasmania and on Kangaroo Island. In Tasmania they were viewed from the boat on the cruise around Eaglehawk Neck, so we were on the water, they were on shore, and I had not yet learned to use my zoom feature. On Kangaroo Island, we saw seals at Cape du Couedic, where we were up above and they were down below, so I couldn't really get any good shots. This is the same reason I don't have any pictures of the dolphins. (If I had gone further on the Admiral's Arch trail, I probably could have gotten some good shots.)

So, every single picture I have up there is from Seal Bay, where not only were we right up close to the critters, but I also randomly figured out how the zoom worked. (I did a lot of experimenting with the camera. I know I should read the manual, but somehow it does not happen.)

Since this is Seal Bay, you might expect that the animals there would be seals, but they are sea lions. Does the distinction matter? Eh, probably not that much. They are all pinnipeds, and the term sea lion covers seven species in six genera, whereas if it was one species, or even one genus, okay, that would be totally clear. Basically, if it has ears and long front flippers and can walk on four flippers on land, we will call it a sea lion. I would have thought that gives them an advantage on land over non-sea lion seals, but those guys can kind of book it on land too, at least more than I was expecting. This is actually important, because you might look at a seal and think it can only wriggle over land, and feel safe taunting it, but they will surprise you. And they've got some teeth on them.

This is not to say that I thought they looked fierce--they looked adorable, and I was snapping picture after picture because I could not stop thinking how adorable they were everywhere I looked.

Sea lions (at least the nursing mothers, but I think all), will go out in the water for three days eating all the fish they can, and then come back and collapse for a long nap. In the picture of the one pup nursing, you can see that the mother is conked out, and this was pretty typical. Our guide said that usually everyone is conked out, but we had a lot of active pups playing around with each other. They were chasing and splashing in the surf, and so fun to watch. With the one group of sleepers, you can see the changing pelt colors as they mature.

We started off at the interpretive center, and this is where Maria saw the echidna puggle and started fretting that they were going to kill it. I told her that if it needed a mercy killing, it probably would have happened already, and they wouldn't have shown it to everyone, but she was really uptight. Peter assured her it was safe, and they had a wildlife expert there who rehabilitated injured and orphaned animals all the time, but it's funny how neurotic she can be.

I did not see the puggle, because I had gotten caught up in this display on ocean pollution, and did not even know they had brought the baby out. So, while Maria was finding something new to worry about, I was getting sick over pictures of dead animals, choked on plastic or strangled by fishing line. (I picked up every little piece of plastic I saw at Vivonne Bay.) It was a cheery little place.

As we started off to the beach, we started hearing really loud calls. At first I thought it was gulls, but it was the sea lions. Their calls were higher than I would have expected, but it was the young pups playing. If it were adult males fighting or looking for mates, it probably would have sounded different. I tried to record a sound clip, but it didn't take (one more reason I should read the manual).

We were instructed to stay in a group and with our guide. This is meant to protect the sea lions from humans being idiots, but also to keep any one person from becoming an easy target for a sea lion. As our shoes were filling up with sand, Maria went back onto the platform for the walkway back to the center. She was not far from us, but suddenly one young sea lion came charging from the shore. They do sometimes go pretty far inland, and people have found them in the restrooms.

This one ended up coming down the area between us, cutting her off from us (and closer to her than to us). She began to be a little nervous. Peter just suggested that she not move. The sea lion stayed there for a while, but eventually did move back to the water, and no attacks happened. I did wish I'd brought my video camera, but you know, I'll get other chances because I'm sure she hasn't learned a thing.

(To be fair, after Maria's heel got cut up on the first day, she never got to the point where she could where anything but flip flops while we were gone, so she never had really good foot support for the entire trip. So, let's say that's the reason she did not stay completely with the group.)

Anyway, Seal Bay was a definite highlight of the trip. Even allowing a respectful distance, you are so close, and at least for us they were very entertaining. Going when you have adolescents is probably a good idea. We were there in late September.

One other thing I should mention. The guide book said that Kangaroo Island has a lot of sharks, and Peter kept saying we didn't need to worry about them, which, really, we were on land most of the time, so of course. However, we did press a bit, and what he told us is that yes, there are some around, and it is going to be mainly where there is food. So, even if it were allowed, Seal Bay would be a terrible place for swimming or surfing. It's just a really great place for watching sea lions.