From mid-December to mid-January each year, Dunedin residents of New Zealand have their summer holidays.
During this time, people come outside to enjoy the sun, swimming, surfing, sunbathing, etc......
(Holidays in Dunedin)
But this holiday is not exclusive to humans,
A group of the world's rarest New Zealand sea lions also come here at this time.
And they're here to "take maternity leave".
(New Zealand sea lions on holiday, image from nytimes)
This Xi started 30 years ago.
Due to overhunting by humans, New Zealand sea lions have all fled to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand to survive.
It wasn't until 1993 that a female sea lion, known as "Mum", wandered to Dunedin. It seems to have liked the city and gave birth to a baby here, and since then, it has become a dedicated "maternity ward" and "vacation base" for the Mum family.
(Mum with its children)
Sea lions return to their birthplaces to breed, so for the next 30 years, the Mum family's sea lions come back every year to give birth, and eventually even bring the entire sea lion population back to give birth.
It can be said that it was Mum who single-handedly brought the New Zealand sea lions back to Dunedin.
(New Zealanders erect Mum)
It was also very gratifying to see that more and more sea lions came to Dunedin every year, but it was soon discovered that there were some problems.
The sea lion is a very intelligent animal, with intelligence equivalent to that of a human toddler.
They are full of curiosity and even a bit crazy.
In many cases, when they see humans, they will run over like puppies.
(Schematic diagram)
Sometimes they even show their bellies unsuspectingly, as if begging to be touched.
(Schematic diagram)
But it's wild animals, and humans have to take some precautions.
So over the years, sea lions have often staged "friction" with humans......
(Sea lion greeting humans)
In 2015, a sea lion entered a public swimming area and did not leave.
Although experts said the sea lion was not dangerous at all, authorities evacuated the swimmers for safety.
The authorities then launched a captive of the sea lion, which turned out to be unsuccessful, and the captive lasted for three hours, and it was still swimming in the pool without limits.
Eventually, the authorities had to leave the pool and wait for the sea lions to have had enough of playing and return to the beach on their own......
(Sea lions in the pool)
In January 2023, a family of three was having a picnic on the beach when a sea lion appeared and took over the picnic blanket.
Mom said that the sea lion may have been attracted by the smell of the picnic, but she admired it more because the sea lion became interested in her son's shoes and reached in to smell them.
"It's a very brave thing to stick your nose in a teenage boy's shoes......"
Eventually, the sea lion didn't eat anything (maybe it was a sniff and lost an appetite?), and after a nap (coma) for a while, it returned to the sea.
(Sea lions on the beach)
This year is even more outrageous, and now it has not been a week before there have been two news of sea lions being mischievous.
On January 2, two sea lion couples took possession of a local golf cart and gave birth to two cubs, and authorities required dog walkers near the golf course to keep their dogs on a leash and drive carefully.
Especially after a week of birth, the mother sea lion will go out to forage for food, leaving the cub alone at home, in which case the cub is vulnerable to large dogs.
(Mother sea lion on the golf course)
On January 7, the 2024 Surfing Championship was held on Dunedin Beach, and the entire race was stolen by a sea lion named Faith.
A surfer was competing when Faith showed up next to him and showed off his surfing skills to the audience.
Although the trick was great, it was quickly disqualified for cheating and interfering with other surfers.
(Faith Match)
The contestants said they had to deliberately look away because the sea lion deliberately attracts everyone's attention, and only if it is left unnoticed by humans for a long time will it get bored and leave.
But this sea lion is cute, distracting, but also very interesting, at least better than a shark......
(Faith Match)
Dunedin's sea lion conservation experts say the sea lions are not aggressive or threatening to humans, and they even take the initiative to live in harmony with humans.
On the other hand, the population of New Zealand's sea lions is still slowly declining, and their lives are still fraught with risks.
In order for these rare sea lions to reproduce smoothly, the government sometimes closes entire roads during the breeding season so that sea lions and their cubs can enter the beach without interference.
But for them, humans and human means of transportation are still a threat that cannot be ignored. In New Zealand, from time to time, there is news that a sea lion has been hit by a car and died......
(Sea lion trying to cross the road)
The local area is slowly changing for these sea lions.
Dunedin expects 25 sea lion cubs to be born this summer, and according to regulations, only if at least 35 cubs are born each year for five consecutive years, Dunedin can be officially classified as a breeding ground for sea lions, providing them with better protection.
(Sea lions resting on the doorstep of a human house)
I hope that the local people can provide a better ecological environment for these cute creatures, so that these "dogs of the sea" can reproduce smoothly......