Why 'playful' sea lions are living their best lives in Dunedin

Once driven to extinction on the mainland, a colony of sea lions is now thriving on the Otago coast.

The first time Dunedin-based photographer and writer Derek Morrison encountered a sea lion he was a touch intimidated.

“They're quite full on. They say hello by coming up and showing you all their teeth. And it's a little bit intimidating, to be fair, the first time I saw it,” Morrison says.

He soon realised that they are essentially playful creatures.

“They are full of mischief, and they just want to have a play wherever they can,” he told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.

Dunedin’s sea lions are a wildlife success story. In 1993, a Dunedin farmer came upon a sea lion mother nursing a pup near Taieri Mouth. DOC Rangers believed the pup was one of the first sea lions born on mainland New Zealand in over 150 years.

These imposing sea creatures, who weigh in at half a tonne, are also highly photogenic, he says.

“They're beautiful creatures and to have such amazing wildlife right on our doorstep in Dunedin, I pretty much immediately thought, this is something that I really want to get into and help to share their story.”

He now photographs and films the city's sea lions and has produced a recent short documentary.

The discovery of Mum, the founder of Dunedin’s sea lion colony, was a surprise back in 1993, says Moss Thompson, DOC's Coastal Otago biodiversity ranger.

“She was tagged down in the Sub-Antarctic Islands… and displaying quite unusual behaviour for a female sea lion. She moved up and gave birth to a pup up here in Otago.

“What we see with most of our females is they'll return to very similar spots to birth each year.”

He says 38 pups were born last season, with the sea lions returning to an area that was once part of their territory until human activities drove them away.

“Through early commercial sealing and subsistence hunting they were essentially exterminated from the mainland. So, we're seeing a colonisation of their core range.”

The area provides perfect sea lion foraging and creching locations, he says. Sea lions are now a protected species, meaning Dunedin’s population has flourished over the last 30 years.

The sea lions don’t just confine themselves to the beaches and inlets of South Dunedin’s coast, Morrison says.

One, named Tui, was determined to break into the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club, says Moss.

“There was a bunch of school kids in there at the time and she just loved hearing their voices so whenever she heard them squealing and chatting she'd come running around and try and find out where they were to go and she just wanted to have a big play.”

Chisholm Park golf links has also proven a popular spot, Morrison says.

“We've had a number of animals actually decide that Chisholm Links is a pretty great spot to have a pup.”

Its flat grass, little private spots and sand dune location make it perfect, he says.

“One of our females, Briny, this year I think had a pup pretty much right next to the green on the ninth hole.”