Fur seal frolicks with visitors in a lake after swimming kilometres inland
From reporter Joanne Naish:
A fur seal has been making himself at home and putting on a show for visitors in a West Coast lake.
Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge owner and guide Gerry McSweeney said New Zealand fur seals had been visiting Lake Moeraki for the last five years. Lake Moeraki is 3km upriver from the Tasman Sea in South Westland, north of Haast.
A male fur seal has been resident in the lake for the past six months.
“They seem happy here and eat a regular diet of eels and trout. We see this particular male almost every day over a stretch of about 5km of river and lake,” he said.
McSweeney takes tourists out on kayak trips on the lake, which is surrounded by rainforest and the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Site.
The fur seal recently frolicked in the water lying on his back and waving his flippers around near a group of kayakers.
“Their behaviour lying on their backs and waving their flippers about in the sunshine is to do with thermoregulation. They do this in sunny weather and keep warm from the sun on their flippers,” he said.
He believed the fur seals were attracted by a plentiful food source, but their presence had not dented the trout population in the lake, he said.
“The trout fishing in Lake Moeraki remains very good. This is further evidence that the presence of a large predator actually helps improve the health of the prey population because the predator will generally only eat the old, the sick and the weak species leading to an overall improvement in the health of the prey population,” he said.
McSweeney said it was unusual to see seals in freshwater. He only knew of Lake McKerrow in the Lower Hollyford Valley in northern Fiordland as the other place where fur seals have been seen in a freshwater lake.
“This is not common anywhere in New Zealand. Our visitors think the presence of a seal in Lake Moeraki is yet further evidence of what a special place the West Coast is,” he said.
Department of Conservation’s West Coast Marine Reserves Ranger Don Neale said it was an interesting find.
“It’s interesting and uncommon, but not unheard of to have a seal in such a lake. Lake Moeraki is a pretty easy swim upriver for a seal,” he said.
Fur seals had previously been seen up to 20km up rivers in other parts of New Zealand.
“We call them marine mammals, but they don’t know that,” he said.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.2% Summer
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36.4% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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