Sea lion pup deaths

THE largest Dunedin sea lion breeding season since the early 1990s was not without its casualties.

The New Zealand Sea Lion Trust estimates 15 pups were born on the Otago coast this year, up on about 12 last year.

Trustee Jordana Whyte said there were two confirmed pup deaths this season and another was likely. The two confirmed were probably crushed by larger sea lions, she said.

‘‘These are all natural circumstances; nothing terribly surprising there. Fifteen is the most we’ve seen on the peninsula since 1993, so we can expect a few more deaths.’’

For a while it looked as though a male pup born at a residential Harwood property had died, but the trust was ‘‘pleased to report’’ it had been reunited with its mother, Lorelie, she said.

‘‘There was concern because Lorelie had been seen mooing and mooing and mooing out on Te Raone beach.’’

Sea lion mother Joy had not been seen for a while after giving birth at the Warrington camping ground this season, she said.

While the trust could not know for sure, there was speculation hers was one of the dead pups, she said.

Trust chairman Steve Broni said it was a ‘‘very good season’’ and there could still be a pup hidden away the trust had not found.

‘‘The numbers are creeping up slowly, but we’re still having to share the beaches with dog owners.’’

However, most owners were getting the message to keep them on leads around sea lions, he said.

There was also some frustration about a new tag the Department of Conservation was using on pups because they kept falling off, causing initial confusion over whether a pup was newly found or not.