Sea Lions (Pakake)

From our Airbnb in Pukehiti we walked down to Sandfly Beach to see if we could see any Sea Lions.

Pakake are the rarest Sea Lion in the world. They once lived all around New Zealand's coast, but were hunted to near extinction over 200 years ago for their fur (after the sea otter they have the densest warmest fur of any mammal). A small and slowly declining population survived in the harsh environment of the subantarctic islands. From there, and after a long absence, Pakake are returning to this coast to breed. Pakake rest on the shore to recover from deep sea diving for food. Rest replenishes oxygen levels in their muscles and builds insulating fat layers.

It was recommended that humans stay back more than 10 metres from sleeping sea lions to allow them to rest, and that if are in a group, not to surround the animals. Sadly some humans present on the beach didn’t comply with this, getting ‘in the face’ of the sea lions: which just enrages me.

Adult males range between 2.5-3.5m and can weigh up to 350kg. They are quite formidable. I almost thought Lilz was a goner at one point when a sea lion walked right up to him (see the vid)!! He was about 15-20m away but the angle foreshortened the distance from where I was sitting so I was quite frightened for him!

We liked watching them roll around waving their flippers in the air. They also looked so tired: they would just dramatically flop onto the sand immobile when they came out of the sea.Read more