Kaikoura and its fur seals

Kaikoura and its Fur Seals

New Zealand Fur Seals

My first stop on the South Island was Kaikoura, a city on the North Eastern coast, home to a large colony of New Zealand fur seals.
These animals were on the brink of extinction due to over hunting by the Maoris and then the Europeans. However, New Zealand decided that enough was enough an hunting was banned. The seal population rose again and they now enjoy a protected life, living up to 60 years old. One of these seals was recorded diving at a depth of just over 200 meters!!!
Playful and not afraid of humans, the seals will let you approach quite close, not really bothered by human presence. The only thing not to do is to get between a seal and the sea! If you do, you are in for a series of barks and if you don’t move out of the way a serious bite, 20 times stronger than that of a dog. And by the way they can run upwards of 20km/h on the rocks… So be aware of your surroundings!
They spend their days lounging around, warming up, or chilling in the water getting ready for their night’s hunting raids to feed their need for blubber. Yes, fat, they need fat to protect against the cold.
I could spend hours taking pictures of them, in fact I did!