January 7th 2025: Sea lion season

I've never quite understood soap operas, but the family dynasty of sea lions in Otago intrigues me. Every single sea lion born in Otago since "Mum" first gave birth at Taieri Mouth in 1993 carry her bloodline. That's pretty amazing especially given we're up to about 30 pups born each year here. Plus, they all have their individual personalities and they seem to have a knack for doing funny things that make you smile. They're contagiously endearing – the more you learn about them the more you fall in love with them ... and their antics.

While sea lions are facing a raft of issues in the Sub-Antarctic Islands right now, they're thriving here – and not just in our coastal areas, but also right here in the city. The females are discovering that hiding spots in residential areas are pretty good at helping them evade the roaming males.

Between the end of December and the middle of January, pregnant females will find a quiet spot to have their pup. This is why we're seeing so many of them wandering across streets and roads, and using beach accessways and footpaths right now. Having megafauna in amongst our daily lives is pretty special, but it also means we have to adapt some of the things we do to make room for them. Taking a bit of extra caution on our coastal roads around this time is the number one thing we can do. Doc and DCC have been putting up 30kmh zones around roads that are frequented by sea lions (like the road between Taieri Mouth and Brighton), so be careful there and along Victoria Road, John Wilson Drive and the Smaills Beach Road.

If you do see a sea lion on a road then make sure to let other drivers know – I've met a few people who have accidentally run over sea lions and it's devastating for them.

Our sea lions are very unique in the world with the way they are urbanising themselves and that story is an amazing one – especially if we all play a role in being kaitiaki for these characterful marine mammals and give them space to do their thing.

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS Here's a very cool story about our sea lions that I had the chance to work on a few weeks back for The Guardian. And here's a cheat sheet to make surfing with sea lions a lot more relaxing for you.