Crabeater, Weddell and Ross seals in New Zealand

[Colin Miskelly]

Hi all

Natural history texts and websites contain little information on occurrences of these three Antarctic seal species in New Zealand. I have so far found 14 verifiable records (summarised in blog below), but surely there are more. The strong Wellington bias (57% of records) in particular suggests that vagrant seals elsewhere are more likely to be undetected, unrecognised or unreported. I am interested to hear of any other sightings.

Cheers
Colin

http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2016/03/02/the-mysterious-attraction-of-the-hutt-river-to-crabeater-seals/

[Michael Szabo]

Thanks for posting this, Colin. It's great to know about all these earlier sightings of Antarctic seals around New Zealand. I've cross-posted a link to your blog to the NZ Cetacean Spotting Group on Facebook where unusual seal sightings are sometimes reported. You also mention Southern Elephant Seals in the blog, which reminded me that I saw one on the beach at Waipu Cove in Northland in January 1996 - even further north than the 1948 record of a Weddell Seal at Muriwai.

Cheers
Michael

[rowey]

Hi Colin

I was wondering if there is any evidence of these seals hauling out with Fur Seals colonies, or are they predominantly isolated sightings of solitary animals. Places like Kaikoura, Ohau Point could be worth closer examination if this is the case. I found a leopard seal halfway along Kaitorete Spit last year, and a Fur Seal a couple of Kms down the beach. He was very photogenic and quite happy for me to sit 10mts away without showing any signs of agitation.

[Colin Miskelly]

Hi Rowey

Apologies for the slow reply - I have been in the field (and offline) for the past 2 weeks.

These three Antarctic seal species are unlikely to associate with fur seals (or other seals) and very unlikely to be seen on a rocky coast (the Kaikoura crabeater seal was an apparent exception). As they are 'true seals', they are unable to rotate their pelvis forward, and cannot walk, run or climb like a fur seal or sea lion. Their movement on land is more slug like, and so they are most likely to come ashore on gently shelved sand or gravel.

Cheers
Colin