Kia ora Odin, how long have you been the Seals Keeper at Auckland Zoo? I’ve been at Auckland Zoo for 12 years, working with our fur seals and sea lions.
What degree did you gain to qualify as a Seals Keeper? I did the Captive Wild Animals course at Unitec, which was a year-long course with work experience.
What do you enjoy the most about working with seals? The coast was a big part of my life growing up. I have a huge passion for the ocean and spent the majority of my youth surfing and fishing. Seals are amazing acrobatically in the sea and we also have the rarest sea lions in the world here, the New Zealand sea lion. New Zealand sea lions are unique – they’re different to any other sea lion species. Behaviourally they are very relaxed and are very different to fur seals. Fur seals are also beautiful, they have two layers of fur and males can weigh up to 160 kg, females up to 50 kg. Sea lions are a lot more tolerate of humans than fur seals. They are very placid, calm, caring, theatrical and social animals. Male sea lions can weigh up to 450 kg and females up to 160 kg. Sea lion pups are born at approximately 8 kg and will put on a couple of kilos every week feeding off mum. They are very inquisitive, intelligent and can be like dogs. Male sea lions have a massive mane and are breath-taking to view in person. As long as they’re respected, they will respect people and animals within their proximity. It’s their coastline and it’s their beach. When on land they are resting up, after foraging at sea. We need to respect them for the beautiful mammals that they are. They are making a return to the mainland of New Zealand, and I hope someday they return to the North Island. The sea lion population has been said to be stable, but unfortunately pupping is declining on one of the main breeding colonies – Campbell Island, due to the harsh conditions.
As you do not have New Zealand sea lions at Auckland Zoo, how are you involved with sea lions? Auckland Zoo has partnered with the Department of Conservation (DOC) to help with sea lion recovery by tagging sea lions, and over the past year, designing and constructing a pup shelter prototype. Since 2011, Auckland Zoo has been supporting New Zealand sea lion research, and in 2012 – 2013 funded GPS tags that were used for ongoing research into the ecology of the species. From 2013 – 2020 I got involved with tagging pups. This was through my experience working with sea lions and doing health checks on our fur seal and sea lions at Auckland Zoo where I gained handling experience. Years ago, sea lion specialist Dr. Louise Chilvers released a poster detailing New Zealand sea lions’ physicality and received calls from Stewart Island locals informing her they had seen sea lions. Approximately five years ago, we were finding lower numbers (around 30 sea lion pups) at Stewart Island (Rakiura). Every year since we have gained a better understanding of how cows select the spots to hide their pups. We have discovered sea lions at Stewart Island that we tagged as pups on the Subantarctic Islands. In 2020, 57 pups were found at Stewart Island and Dr. Louise Chilvers estimated 35 pups per year over five years for Port Pegasus to establish a breeding colony.
How is Auckland Zoo involved with New Zealand sea lions? Following designing and constructing a sea lion pup shelter over the past year for DOC, we recently trialled this shelter down at Cape Palliser with the largest breeding colony of New Zealand fur seal pups. Seal pups are of a similar size to newly born sea lion pups – and the shelter trial, that also involved DOC and iwi, was a success. From the observations we had at least three pups use the shelter. Looking at the cameras (inside) we had five that spent time inside the shelter for extended periods of time, four of these for 10-12 hours. Five additional pups came in for a short period (up to one hour) so 10 pups in total. Some tried coming in and got told off by the one already inside. One female also checked it out from the outside, but didn’t come in. We have some minor modifications in constructing the shelter to make it easier on Campbell Island, which we are currently working through, and hope to be able to have more shelters made up for Campbell Island’s sea lion rock and bog colony at Davis point. This shelter has been in discussion for some time and continues to be a great conservation project with many stakeholders involved. Companies Dotmar and Stella have really helped Auckland Zoo with the engineering and material needed to endure a 450kg male sea lion resting on it and survive the harsh weather conditions of the Subantarctic. This is all in the hope of being able to decrease the mortality rate of pups to one of the rarest sea lions in the world at Campbell Island. These are to reduce the mortality rate, which was 81% at Campbell Island in 2019/2020. Pups are dying from exposure, bacterial diseases, and starvation. Stewart Island sea lions go out for half a day, get their fill, and can then feed their pups. Subantarctic Island sea lions go out for days and struggle to find enough food for themselves let alone their pups. When cows are out forging, the pup goes without her body heat, and becomes more susceptible to exposure and disease. Pups end up freezing to death. Our shelters are looking promising. Sea lion pups are social and will pile up on each other and share warmth. So far, we’ve trialled the shelters with eight-month-old fur seal pups, but unlike sea lion pups, they like their own space and don’t pile up on each other. If we can increase one of the main sea lion breeding colonies, that might push more sea lions to the mainland where there are more resources.
How are New Zealand fur seals and sea lions distinguishable? The size is a noticeable difference. Female fur seals will grow up to 50 kg and males up to 160 kg. Female sea lions will grow up to 160 kg and males up to 450 kg. Fur seals have a pointy snout and sea lions have a blunt snout. Fur seals have two layers of fur and have an oxygen bubble layer between their fur layers to keep their underlayer warm. Behaviourally, they are also very different. Sea lions are a lot more relaxed and don’t consider humans as threatening as fur seals. Fur seals are very theatrical and get upset very quickly by humans being in proximity. Female and male fur seals are both brown/black. Female sea lions are cream/grey and males are brown/black. As pups, sea lions are brown/black and as they sexually mature, they lose their pup fur and their coat changes.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, seals were over-harvested to near extinction; why do you believe fur seals have recovered and there are 100,000 and sea lions have not and there are 12,000? Their different behaviours. A sea lion on the beach will look at you, but not consider you as a threat due to their own size. But if you do see a sea lion on the beach – please always keep the safe 20m recommended distance from them. Fur seal coats were considered more valuable than sea lion skins, but sea lions were easier to hunt, as they could be approached and would stand their ground. Fur seals would take off to the water. Sealing only stopped because there were not enough seals to harvest. It is remarkable sea lions have survived, but there are only 12,000.
How should the public behave when encountering a fur seal or a seal lion? By acknowledging sea lions were once throughout New Zealand and were pushed to extinction due to our over-harvesting of them. Be happy if you see a sea lion, as viewing them is very rare. Respect their space, as they spend a lot of time out at sea, and they return to land to sleep and to socialise with whānau and friends.
Would you consider restricting vehicles on beaches beneficial to sea lion population recovery? Yes, I would. You’ve got to consider the issue of sea lions becoming accustomed to cars and wandering onto the road. They are unaware of the risk cars pose to them. In a general sense, sea lions have not had any threats on land, except when we were hunting them. Get involved in petitions protecting sea lions, because they are making a return to mainland New Zealand, and we should give them the best chance to do that.
The environment, including the oceans, animals and ecosystems are part of an interconnected cycle which contributes to the balance of the planet. What do you believe the effects of the potential extinction of sea lions would be? What I would say is that sea lions are an incredible species that play a key role in the marine ecosystem, and we need to ensure their future. If we can help protect our marine ecosystems – from our beaches, coastlines, and seas – this will hopefully help sea lion populations in New Zealand recover. For example, if a female sea lion does get caught in a net, the pup she is carrying will be killed, and if she also has a pup back on the mainland, it is also unlikely to survive. It’s these human activities that pose one of the biggest threats to these marine mammals.
