New Zealand Fur Seal

Pointed dog-like narrow snout, long, fine hair with thick under fur, dark grey-brown on the back, grading to chestnut brown under fur; females are slightly shorter and lighter than the males, who can reach 1.8m in length and 140kg in weight.

Fur seals are known to dive as deep as 270 metres for prey for up to one or two minutes at a time. Their prey is anchovy, hoki, lantern fish, squid, octopus and crustacea including krill.

In turn they are preyed upon by sharks, orca, (killer whales), leopard seals and Hooker’s (New Zealand) sea lions

They breed on steep boulder beaches with plenty of crevices where they can cool off. The males arrive at the breeding colonies from late October to early November; females arrive in late November and give birth to a single pup conceived the year before. She will mate with the dominant male eight days later.