Photo: New Zealand Ocean Animals

A young New Zealand Fur Seal, shimmies himself up the steep rocks towards his friend at the Cape Palliser Seal Colony on the North Island of New Zealand while the other ocean animals stay in the water.

The big black eyes on one New Zealand Fur Seal watches his friend trying to pull himself up to the top of the rock using his strong flippers. New Zealand Fur Seals are one species of animals that reside in the ocean around Cape Palliser on the North Island of New Zealand, but while they are still young, they cling to rocks waiting for their mother to return. These two have lost their soft fur which they have when they are born and begin to shows signs of maturity after only a few months.

For about the first nine to ten months of a New Zealand Fur Seal's life, they are nursed by their mother who will come ashore between feeding sessions. Some will nurse until they are close to a year old. Nursing begins after about six to twelve days after birth as the mother returns to the ocean for a feeding frenzy for the first three to eight days and then returns to land. The mother will eventually be gone for longer periods of time as the fur seal grows and starts to be able to fend for itself. Between four and five years of age, a New Zealand Fur Seal is fully mature and can begin to bear their own pups.

Ocean animals that are a threat to the New Zealand Fur Seals are mainly large sharks and killer whales. Another predator that they must be aware of are humans, especially those who hunt them but they are now protected animals. Fishiing nets can also be a danger for this animals as they can entangle themselves or pollution that humans create in the ocean.

Summer in New Zealand is one of the best times of year to visit the Cape Palliser Seal Colony, as the pups are still clinging to the rocks and the others either frolic in the ocean below or lounge atop the rocks soaking up the summer sun. Cape Palliser is the largest seal colony around the North Island of New Zealand and it is amazing to watch thousands of these massive ocean animals in their natural environment.

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