Kaikoura Fur Seal Adventures - part one, walking.........
Kaikoura is home to one of the largest populations of New Zealand Fur Seals in the country. It’s also one of the easiest and most accessible places to spot and observe seals given they are found in numerous places up and down it’s rocky coastline. Once hunted nearly to extinction the New Zealand Fur Seal is now legally protected and has made a miraculous recovery. Numbers are booming which means more seal encounters for everyone to enjoy.
There are several ways to interact with seals in the Kaikoura area and I will start with the most obvious and simple one – walking.
A young pup drying off on the rocks at Kaikoura
Point Kean Seal Sanctuary is found at the end of the road leading from the main centre of Kaikoura Township. If in doubt, follow the road alongside the coast and you will end up at the car park with no were else to go. The seals here used to be spotted in the car park itself, under cars and snoozing on the boardwalk. I have even encountered several plucky youngsters half way up the grassy cliff side. Since the 2016 earthquake that caused so much damage around these parts the land has changed. Point Kean itself has extended further out along the peninsula meaning that the seals have also spread out. Although you will always find a couple snoozing on the board walk by the car parks entrance as no matter what time of day they always seem to be there. Sometimes too you will hear a couple snorting underneath the wooden boardwalk panels as you walk over them. If you want to see the seals in larger numbers though, or indeed have closer encounters with some of the braver, more inquisitive babies continue to walk around Point Kean and under the large protruding cliff face. You may have to scramble over the jagged rocks around here being careful not to slip on some of the greasy seaweed (Kaikoura is famous for this and indeed the pungent smell regularly greets you on arrival, especially in summertime).
Once around this headland you will come upon a well-formed stony path alongside which are many snoozing seals. Trying to avoid the ones laying over the path itself is another matter – but they will snarl to warn you of their presence if you dare to get too close. – don’t, there will only be one winner and it won’t be you! Just about every rock and smooth surface around this headland is covered by the bulk of a seal, both big and small. The mothers are usually snoozing in between weaning their youngsters whilst the little ones wander about, play fighting with one another and looking for a sheltered rock pool in which to practice their swimming with twists and turns. I was merrily observing all the seals when I suddenly heard a heap of snorting and rustling behind me – I turned around anxious to not be in the way of a seal heading back to sea, when I spotted two babies chasing one another in and out of the long grasses up on the sloping hillside. They can be quite fearless these littlies.
Once you have exhausted Point Kean (the walk continues all the way around this spectacular headland to the South Bay) return to your car and drive north of State Highway One out of town. It’s a magnificent journey with the Kaikoura Mountain Range on one side and the vast Pacific Ocean on the other. As you reach the coast you will notice all the recent work that has been undertaken to rebuild the road. During the earthquake a sizeable amount of the cliff face collapsed across the road, with gigantic landslides taking out huge chunks of the highway. The road is now being rebuilt in what is a colossal effort of man and machine. Also rebuilt is Ohau Point – a pull off which provides a viewing platform over one of the most successful seal colonies in the area. The original was swept away in one of the landslides and this one has purposely been built to allow visitors to view the seals in closer proximity without causing them any disruption. Although as you peer down you do notice several peering back up at you with mild curiosity. Ohau Point enables you to get some idea of how big this colony has become – as you journey further up the coastline you encounter more and more seals. They are recovering very well. The colony is particularly successful as a nursery for the babies, there are numerous rock pools formed by the incoming tide here which provide safe havens for them to play, practice their fishing techniques and generally burn off that abundance of energy. It was this area that was famous for the stream that youngsters climbed up to a waterfall pool that they loved to play in - the pool is still there and no doubt the youngsters still visit but it’s out of bound for us humans at the moment due to the pathway having been badly damaged. At least the baby seals can now play safely without any human intervention.
Another day dawns in Kaikoura, New Zealand’s marine paradise
This chapter of my blog covers the walks available to observe the seals but there are several other ways to encounter these gorgeous and playful marine mammals around Kaikoura. These include swimming and kayaking and will be discussed shortly….
Walking along the beach at Kaikoura as the sun begins to set behind the mountains