Hazardous Haulouts
Inger Vandyke

The perils faced by seals seeking a place to rest on our coasts

Roused from a lethargic siesta of sunbathing on the rocks of the Hippolytes in Tasmania, a group of fur seals slide off the rocks into the water to greet our boat. Trails of seal urea have created a perfect slippery dip for these seals that now dive under and around the boat and the skipper, Damian, drops a splash cam in the water for us to watch them. An acrid stench permeates the air signifying we are close to a very large colony of Australian and New Zealand Fur Seals. It’s their perfumed trademark, a smell only a seal could love.

Clumsiness on land is countered by unrivalled gracefulness in the water and from the dry confines of a boat, we watched in awe at the perfection in which these seals swam through large macrocystis kelp forests, darted around the boat and play bit the camera. I couldn’t help feeling a touch envious of these graceful creatures who spent their lives playing with boats, chasing schools of redbait and lounging around on warm rocks in between.

Sadly, this group and others around the coast of Australia have faced the wrath of human interaction. Fishermen, having blamed these seals for the theft of their catch, have taken fire on this group of Hippolytes seals in isolated incidences over the last decade. “It’s heartbreaking to see” explained Damian, who has watched individuals pore over the death of their little friends on the rocks as reckless fishermen have taken the law into their own hands and shot individuals. Just ten days before the time of writing, a group of forty Australian Fur Seals were shot on Kanowna Island off Wilsons Promontory by fishermen. A group of Deakin University students who had been conducting research on the seals witnessed this horrific act, reported it and the perpetrators were caught. If found guilty, on November 3 this year they may be fined up to $100,000 and face 12 months in prison depending on the number of animals killed.

This year a record number of fur seals have ‘hauled out’ or sought resting places along the coast of New South Wales. Early morning walkers have encountered seals often in crowded coastal communities like Swansea near Newcastle. Resting seals may startle passers by as fur seals tend to camouflage well with rocks. Vagrant Antarctic species of seals including Leopard and Elephant seals will most likely choose a sandy spot to come ashore. Yet not all of these seals are in trouble, many are only seeking a place to relax. Finding a secluded place to lounge around undisturbed is becoming more and more difficult for seals as the population of ‘seachangers’ grows. Encounters between seals and humans are becoming more frequent.

So what do you do if you see a seal? Firstly report it, whether it is dead or alive, to the National Parks and Wildlife Service or the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) who have a seal rescue plan in place and an army of volunteers trained to assist seals. Both organisations will ask you detailed questions to ascertain the seal’s location, species, wellbeing, and the distance the seal is from the water. ORRCA have a ‘seal sitter’ program established whereby volunteers will work to monitor a haulout seal and control the movement of people around that seal. Lulled into a false sense of security, people may approach a seal thinking that it’s cute, harmless or just like the ones they see in Seaworld. Reality dictates that seals can be aggressive and may bite causing infection. Reporting a dead seal is also vital as NPWS or ORRCA can deduce if any foul play has contributed to the death of the seal.

Last weekend at sea off Wollongong, I saw a large New Zealand Fur Seal who proceeded to show off with his leatherjacket that he’d caught at the back of the boat. He floated on his back with the fish in his mouth and a ‘look at what I’ve caught, aren’t I clever?’ attitude before porpoising behind the boat as it moved around. If we can learn to make their world a safer place both on land at sea, then future generations will enjoy experiences with these clever clowns of the ocean hopefully as much as I have.

Thanks to the 7,826 children who entered the 2006 Dymocks Golden Paw Award we can purchase marine mammal rescue equipment like this to safely capture and transport entangled, injured or ill seals to specialist vets at Taronga Zoo. The new equipment will be located in the Central Coast/Lower Hunter region of NSW. Special signage about seals, whales and turtles will inform curious spectators at rescues.

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