September 21st 2021: For Vega ...

For someone who has a phobia of public speaking I find myself doing a lot. Usually, I can conjure up a reasonable excuse, but last week was the trifecta: when I was first asked the date was a long way off, I kind of felt like I had been fortunate to have amassed a lot of experiences and owed something, and the subject matter was the sea lions of the Otago coastline. That was the real clincher.

Way back in 2018 an image I shot of then three-year-old female sea lion Vega surfing a wave alongside me at St Kilda, won the NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year (you can see this year's finalists here). I was blown away. It was totally unexpected.

More powerful for me was the guest speaker: Robin Hammond. He's a New Zealand-born photographer who works for the world's best magazines and spoke about using his gift for photography to give a voice to marginalised communities throughout the world. His work is jaw dropping and could evoke emotion from even the hardiest southerner. He has dedicated his whole life to using his photography to make the world a better place. You can check out some of his work here: Witness Change.

When I came back to Dunedin and back to earth, I realised that my Robin Hammond calling was Vega and her mates. I was in the middle of an unfolding story of sea lions returning to the mainland and I could do something to help people understand them better. The more that surfers, dog walkers, divers and fishermen knew about our sea lions then the more they'd take a role of kaitiaki (guardianship) in their return to Otago. And the more positive their interactions would be.

That's still my mission today. That's why I spoke at Otago Museum on Thursday night. That's why we created these limited edition prints to raise money for the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust and why we keep sharing the stories of these incredible marine mammals.

There's a huge team behind the sea lion story here in Otago and I like to think that everyone who takes an interest and does their bit when walking their dog or teaching their children about sea lions, knows that they are a key part of that team.

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS Want to support the work of the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust and invest in a great limited edition piece for your home? We're offering 50 limited edition prints of the now famous surfing sea lion, Vega. We have 10 large framed prints and about 26 of the 8x12" mounted prints left. You can order yours right here from the new Box of Light shop.