Photo: Coastline Seal Pup Cape Palliser New Zealand

Looking helpless and alone on the coastline rocks at Cape Palliser on the North Island of New Zealand, a New Zealand Fur Seal pup waits patiently for its mother's return.

The flippers on this New Zealand Fur Seal pup are almost as big as its body as it rests on the coastline rocks at Cape Palliser in Wairarapa, New Zealand. It will not take long for this pup to grow into its flippers, but first he must remain on the rocks until his mother returns to nurse it as swimming and feeding on its own are still months away.

New Zealand Fur Seal, Arctocephalus forsteri, pup at the Cape Palliser Seal colony, Cape Palliser, Wairarapa, North Island, New Zealand.

This picture is part of the photo album "Animal Pictures" - there are more beautiful images waiting for you.