August 25th 2026: Sea lion media frenzy

Sea lions have been making a big splash in the media these past few weeks and that's unusual given they usually bring their antics for the breeding season that runs between November/December and March/April each year. 

The ball that got it all rolling was New Zealand Geographic's story, City Slickers, written by the super talented Bill Morris. That article told my own story photographing sea lions along our coast, and increasingly through our urban environments. 

Radio New Zealand (RNZ) soon picked that story up and interviewed me and Doc Coastal Otago Ranger Moss Thompson about the growing population here in Otago and the Catlins. Kathryn Ryan's segment ran on RNZ's Nine to Noon last week and the messages started rolling in straight away.

RNZ also wrote an article based on our chat. Then the Otago Daily Times picked up that story.

Last Friday I got a call from ABC Radio in Sydney, Australia, and was interviewed by Tracey Holmes all about the positive sea lion conservation story taking place along our coast. 

That's a lot of great media to share the story of our sea lions. When I won the NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year way back in 2018 it was for a picture of three-year-old sea lion Vega surfing a wave at St Kilda. Photographer Robin Hammond was the guest speaker back then and he talked about using our photography to make the world a better place like he does through his incredible Witness Change project. I vowed to make sure I gave back to the sea lions through advocacy and education.

Last week it felt pretty good to be doing that. 

See you at the beach, Derek

PS We're doing free hanging for any of our large 1m x 1m limited edition framed artworks over the next two months (until September 30). Here are some of our favourites.