Dunedin sea lions notch up breeding record

Twenty pups were born in Dunedin this year. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Dunedin's New Zealand sea lion pups have arrived in record numbers.

Department of Conservation staff, with the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust and Te Runanga o Otakou, tagged 20 pups this summer from St Kilda to Warrington.

Doc biodiversity ranger Jim Fyfe said it was the most successful breeding season for the threatened species since it returned to Dunedin shores about 30 years ago.

"I think I've finally stopped saying sea lions are coming back. I'm saying sea lions are here," Fyfe said.

"This is their home."

The threshold for Doc to declare Dunedin a breeding colony is 35 pups a year over five years.

Nevertheless, sea lions were making themselves known on Dunedin beaches and now fifth- or sixth-generation pups were being born and bred in the city, Fyfe said.

It was increasingly important for Dunedin residents to learn to live alongside the wild animals and make space for them, he said.

At nearly 3 months old, the pups were becoming more curious and more mobile and mothers were using Otago Peninsula's two large coastal inlets — Papanui and Hoopers Inlets — as nurseries.

With the mothers away foraging for the day the inlets provided safety from a variety of threats to the pups, including large male sea lions.

However, motorists were not a threat that figured in sea lion mothers' calculations, he said.

Doc asked drivers in the area to watch for sea lions roadside.

Doc had put up some temporary fencing and was working with the Dunedin City Council to establish signage and road cones signalling hot spots, "but the truth is sea lions could come up on any of these roads".

Further, because pups were curious, stopping a vehicle nearby could attract pups, luring them closer to danger.

"They are a wild animal and we are so lucky to have them. Be discreet and try and be invisible while you're watching the animals," Fyfe said. "It's not about you, it's about being able to see wild animals."

The number of sea lion pups born in Dunedin has been limited to the mid-teens for the past few years. Previously, 17 was the highest number of pups recorded in the city.