Seal season in full swing

Seals on the foreshore will be a common sight this winter as population numbers continue to increase.

A walker out at Papamoa Beach today spotted a fur seal near the Papamoa Top 10- one of many expected to grace the shores in the next few months.

A seal spotted on Papamoa Beach early this morning. Photo: Nichola Edwards

Biodiversity ranger Dan Rapson says numbers of fur seals in New Zealand have been steadily increasing with numbers in the Bay of Plenty rising in the last 20 years.

'They are becoming more common and we are expecting that to continue. We have more seals around in the winter time than we do in summer. They tend to had south in summer.

'This is the time of the year we are expecting to see seals and it's no surprise that there is one on the beach at Papamoa.”

An adult female can grow up to 1.5m and weigh around 30-40kg, while an adult male can reach 2.5m and weigh around 90-150kg.

Since they were declared protected in 1978, The Department of Conservation says seal numbers have increased gradually.

Current minimum population estimates are 50,000-60,000.

'If you see a seal give it some space because they are wild animals. We recommend keeping at least 10m away. If you have dogs, we ask people to put them on a leash and keep them away.

'They are quite cute, especially the pups, and people tend to feed them, but we really encourage people not to do that because that creates a behaviour were the seals think they can get food from humans.”

Dan says to just leave them be.

'It's all good to check them out and take a photo, but keep your distance and keep your dogs under control.”

The most common area for seals is along the coastline, particularly around the base of Mauao.

DOC has not received any reports of seals in urban areas yet, although there was the seal who made himself at home in a Welcome Bay house last year.

'We haven't had anything like that yet. We do have a role when seals are found in a public place or are badly injured. We try and leave him be as much as possible.

'We've had a few with packaging tape around their necks and that's not natural thing so we step in in those cases. We try and let nature take its course and leave them alone as much as possible.”

If anyone needs to report seals please contact DOC on 0800 DOCHOT (0800 362 468).

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1 comment

fish

Posted on 11-07-2014 08:51 | By peecee09

Say each seal eats 2 fish a day that equates to 35 MILLION fish a year. Let the recreational fishers alone and seriously consider culling and controlling the seal population.


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