‘Silly season’ for seals as DOC appeals for sightings
‘‘This is an opportunity for the public to contribute to science on one of our most visible and interesting marine mammal species.’’
DOC adviser Laura Boren
It’s seal silly season, according to a Department of Conservation expert studying New Zealand’s curious marine mammal –and right on cue one has been making a splash 90km inland.
There have been a number of sightings of kekeno, or NZ fur seals at odd places such as Waikato’s renowned Hobbiton Movie set, a highway in Thames and in the last two weeks, the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel in central Waikato.
The hotel and its hot springs, close to 100km inland up the Waihou River from Thames, has become something of a regular seal haunt over the years with a succession of seals taking in the green paddocks of cow country.
Marine Science adviser for DOC, Laura Boren is part of the team investigating the expansion of the seal population and says random sightings have become more regular between May and October or the ‘silly season’.
‘‘Every winter we go through what DOC calls the ‘seal silly season’ and that’s really just a part of the seal’s life cycle,’’ Boren said.
‘‘Over winter and spring, any nonbreeding animal can move around anywhere, and they’ll just go wherever they find food and a good place to rest.
‘‘We usually get a lot of interest in seals over this time period especially because as the population has been expanding, they’re now really increasing in number in areas where we’ve got a higher human population.’’
But DOC says breeding and rapid expansion in numbers have meant the kekeno population has grown to such a size that it was time to take a closer look at their breeding habits.
Since the early 1800s seal colonies have grown exponentially after losses from early seal hunting by both Mā ori and early European settlers, rebounded.
The seal colonies and kekeno seals have spread from the South Island further north since then. But there is a gap in knowledge when it comes to breeding and nonbreeding sites of the kekeno.
Despite being spotted in the Thames/ Coromandel area, DOC says there are no known colonies in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park (which includes Coromandel).
And, the rapid expansion in numbers means North Island sightings of dead seals are also more common.
‘‘The issue we have is that because the population has been growing, and we don’t know the number of fur seals in that region, and we also don’t know where the nearest breeding colonies are and how big those breeding colonies are we don’t know if that number is normal or not,’’ Boren said.
‘‘This work is two-fold in that we want to get reports of the dead seals . . . the other aspect of the work is also to get reports of live seals so that we know where they are, where they might be popping up.’’
So DOC is calling for the public to pitch in by reporting sightings of the kekeno seals around the Hauraki Gulf and Coromandel region over the next three months.
The citizen research project will assist in monitoring the population of the kekeno seal colonies better.
‘‘The purpose of this is really to get a good understanding of the population in the Mercury Bay area but also the wider Hauraki Gulf Marine Park area,’’ said Boren.
‘‘This is an opportunity for the public to contribute to science on one of our most visible and interesting marine mammal species.’’
Joe Davis, kaumā tua for Mercury Bay iwi Ngā ti Hei, said mana whenua support the project and the intention to learn more about kekeno.
‘‘We echo DOC’s call to our community to enjoy seals from a distance, and not get too close to these mammals,’’ said Davis.
Residents in the Hauraki Gulf and Coromandel can report sightings (both alive or dead) of kekeno via information or photos to kekeno@doc.govt.nz.