Photo: Cuddling Sea Lions Otago
Two Hooker Sea Lions cuddling on the beach in Molyneux Bay in Otago on the South Island of New Zealand.
A pair of Hooker's Sea Lions find peace on the sandy shores of Molyneux Bay along the Catlins Highway in Otago, New Zealand. Cuddling together and soaking up some rays is a favorite past time of the Hooker's Sea Lions and these two seem to be close partners.
Another name for the Hooker's Sea Lion is a New Zealand Sea Lion and they are considered to be one of the rarest in the world. The female Sea Lion is the smaller of the two and has a light grey coloring compared to the dark brown shades of the male.
This endangered species of sea lions once had a population of about 14,000 but in 1998 a strange disease seemed to wipe out around 1800 of them. Another threat to the Hookers Sea Lions around Otago, New Zealand is the dangers of entanglement in fishing nets.
Even though these two Sea Lions look as cute as buttons cuddling on the beach in Otago, never approach too close. They can be very dangerous and aggressive when threatened not only to humans but even to other animals of the sea. ... continue below the picture...
Cuddling Sea Lions Otago
Pictures from photo gallery "Pictures Of The Catlins New Zealand"
This picture is part of the photo album "Animal Pictures" - there are more beautiful images waiting for you.
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Cuddling Sea Lions Otago
New Zealand Sea Lions (also known as Hooker's Sea Lions), Phocarctos hookeri, along the beach in Molyneux Bay in the Catlins along the Catlin's Highway, Southern Scenic Route, Otago, South Island, East Coast, New Zealand.
Technical Information:
I photographed this photo with the digital SLR camera model Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, aperture of f/7.1, exposure time of 1/800 sec. on ISO 100, as always I used a original Canon Lens, the focus lenght for this picture was 235mm.
Two Hooker Sea Lions cuddling on the beach in Molyneux Bay in Otago on the South Island of New Zealand.
