An increasing number of reports of New Zealand sea lions being harassed by people trying to take photographs and videos is “really sad to see”, a Dunedin volunteer group says.
Footage provided to 1News shows a group of people surrounding a sea lion pup late last month at Blackhead Beach and throwing and kicking sand at it, appearing to be trying to get it to move for a video.
New Zealand sea lions/pakake are one of the rarest sea lion species in the world and found only in New Zealand. Once prevalent along the entire coastline, they now reside primarily in the sub-Antarctic Islands.
They are listed as being nationally vulnerable.
Until 1994, no sea lions had been born on the mainland in more than 150 years. Then a sea lion, nicknamed Mum, birthed a pup on Dunedin’s Otago Peninsula. Since then, a growing cohort of her descendants have returned to the area annually.
New Zealand Sea Lion Trust trustee Hanna Ravn said the organisation had been receiving “a lot” of videos and messages from people about things being thrown at sea lions, especially mums and pups, to get them to move for videos.
She said there had been one incident where someone came into “direct contact” with a sea lion for a TikTok, which had since been taken down.
“It seems like a really cute moment, but it can be pretty risky for the person. with zoonosis potentially getting transferred, and also if the mum gets upset and comes charging.”
An increased number of reports of interaction this year could be down to a couple of factors, Ravn added.
“It could be that there’s just more people and more sea lions around the beaches. What we’ve been talking about in the trust is that most likely its that a lot of females are sticking close to town and not moving away to some of the rural areas as quickly as they have previously.”
There was a perception that the harassment was mainly by oblivious tourists, but Ravn said locals were just as bad.
“They’ve grown up alongside sea lions for their entire lives. They’ve been here for decades and the messages about how to interact with them have also been there.”
However, Ravn acknowledged there had been “really, really good community backup” around protecting the sea lions and pups.
“That’s an amazing thing we’re seeing, a lot of harassment has been prevented because of people passing on messages to us.
“The New Zealand Sea Lion Trust would never discourage anyone going to view sea lions, its such special moments seeing pups playing with each other and tossing around seaweed. It makes even the toughest people fall in love with them! We just want to make sure it’s done while giving both people and wildlife the space to be relaxed and safe.”
Department of Conservation Coastal Otago operations manager Gabriel Davies said reports from the public were “really important” to DOC’s monitoring and compliance efforts.
“If people witness sea lions/pakake or other native wildlife being disturbed, they should call DOC’s hotline at 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) as soon as possible.”
Pakake are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act 1978.
It is an offence to harass, disturb, injure or kill marine mammals. An infringement notice can be issued with a fine of up to $400. Maximum penalties if prosecuted are up to two years imprisonment or a fine to a maximum of $250,000.
