Reclining Fur Seal

After leaving the station, we travelled along the coast a little in the zodiacs, taking photos of the scenery and wildlife - such as this fur seal. If you are interested in the rocks, for details (these are quite unique) refer to the note with my photo of the Rockhopper penguins.

The sad record is that when Macquarie Island was discovered by sealers in 1810, they promptly began killing the many fur seals for their pelts. One ship alone was recorded to have taken over 35,000. In total, over 200,000 were taken by the early 1820s: by then the fur seal population had been exterminated and nobody even knows what species had been there. When the ANARE station began operation in 1948 a few fur seals were found in isolated areas, but there was no record of a pup being born there until 1954. Numbers gradually increased and, in 1968, we found small numbers around the rocks on North Head. I understand the population has been increasing substantially since the early 1980s.

But what species is this? I am no sealologist (if there's such a word), but three species now are living at Macquarie - the most common being the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), the next most common the Subantarctic fur seal (A. tropicalis); and the New Zealand fur seal (A. forsteri). To make it even more complicated, it seems they all are hybidising! I'll simply make the obvious statement that this is a fur seal and will be happy to be advised on the details by an expert.

Lovely by any name. It's heartening to know they're increasing.