Tony Wu&#039;s Underwater Photography Blog

Posts Tagged Carnac Island

Endangered Australian Sea Lions

Mon, Mar 18th, 2013 | Conservation, Marine Life, Places, Adventures 3 Comments

My time with the wonderful Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) is over (much too quickly, as always), and I’m on the road again.

Endangered Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea. Carnac Island, Western Australia.

Endangered Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea)
perched in shallow water at Carnac Island in Western Australia

I treasure any time that I can spend with pinnipeds, but I’m particularly attached to this colony.

You see…Australian sea lions are endemic to Western Australia and South Australia, and they’re listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Estimates I’ve read put the total number of these animals in the thousands, maybe up to 12,000 individuals or so, though I’m not sure whether there’s been any methodical census undertaken in recent years.

The specific sea lion colony I’ve visited several times is located at Carnac Island in Western Australia, which is the primary haul-out area for Australian sea lions in this vicinity.

Within this context, the Carnac colony seems especially vulnerable…for a couple of reasons.

First, the community comprises only males. Yup. No females at all.

Now…the individuals that frequent Carnac probably aren’t celibate. They presumably travel a few hundred kilometres up the coast at the appropriate time (i.e., mating season) to strut their stuff in front of pretty female sea lions.

As far as I’ve been able to gather, this is the only instance of a pinniped colony that is a boys-only club. No one knows why this colony is the way it is. It just is.

But with no females in the area, it’s clear that this colony cannot be self-sustaining. There needs to be inflow from other sea lion colonies.

Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea). Carnac Island, Western Australia.

Endangered Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) relaxing on a bed of seaweed

The second reason is people. No surprise there I suppose.

Some years ago, when I first visited this colony, I was shocked to see rampant abuse of these animals and their home by boaters…people who were drunk, loud, and well…stupid and obnoxious.

Among other things, I saw people kicking sand at sea lions, throwing objects at them, dragging large kites across and over them, etc.

(I wrote at length about what I observed, so if you’re interested, please click here to read more. It’s pretty appalling.)

Anyway, it seems that despite the passage of over six years since my first visit, things haven’t changed much.

CALM, the agency with oversight over Carnac Island and the sea lions, has since been rebranded as Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), but protection for the sea lions doesn’t seem to have improved in any substantial manner.

Boaters still descend on the island during weekends, and the sea lions still have to contend with lots of boats, loud music, and intoxicated people traipsing over the beach.

I understand that DEC has stopped people from driving their boats onto the beach (yes, it was actually ok to drive right into sleeping sea lions before), so they do deserve credit for that.

Still…it’s odd.

The same people who seem perfectly happy with inebriated boaters harassing the sea lions are quite quick to scold sober tourists who visit Carnac to observe and interact with the sea lions on their own terms.

Representatives of DEC approached us on three occassions to tell us, among other things, that: “It is the closed season for sea lions.” Puzzled, I asked the natural question: “When is the open season?”

After a momentary pause to consider the unexpected query, the guy driving the Marine Parks boat said: “Swimming with sea lions is indefinitely closed.”

Well, I’m not a native speaker of English, but to me, “indefinitely closed” seems more like a ban, not a closed “season”.

The thing is, I saw a number of advertisements in (government-supported) tourist booklets and brochures promoting in-water encounters with sea lions. That doesn’t exactly jive with a ban, does it?

So I’m not really sure what the situation is.

Perhaps no one is.

Anyway, this confusing behaviour isn’t new; it’s been the same since I first visited in 2007.

Which I guess is my point: So long as the relevant authorities choose to place priority on delivering mixed messages to tourists rather than on addressing real harassment, the endangered sea lions are going to have a rough time.

As it happened, I saw fewer sea lions this time than during any prior visit; where it was normal before to see over a dozen lying on the beach, we never saw more than five on this visit (usually far fewer).

There could, of course, be any number of reasons behind this; it’s difficult to pinpoint any single cause.

But I can’t help but think that ongoing harassment by boatloads of irresponsible people, made possible by the complicity of DEC, must be a contributing factor.

Australian sea lion. Carnac Island. Western Australia.

Interspecies communication at its best,
with the sea lion deciding when, where and how to interact

Greetings from Down Under

Mon, Mar 11th, 2013 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures No Comments

Australian sea lion, from our first day on the water:

Greetings from Down Under

Fighting Sea Lions

Fri, Mar 25th, 2011 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures 3 Comments

Here’s another photo that I like from my recent trip to Western Australia, a picture of two Australian sea lions fighting:

Two male sea lions having a friendly discussion

The animal on the left is a juvenile, and the one on the right is a mature bull. Despite appearances, they’re not having a serious conflict. They’re play-fighting, sort of like the way dogs tussle with one another sometimes.

I’m not 100% certain, but I assume that this type of behaviour is to establish social status, as is common among many other animals.

In this case, the older individual sauntered up to the little one, greeted it, then bullied it a bit. Much to his credit, the little one stood his ground, though he did make a few strategic retreats during the encounter.

As you can see from the image, sea lions kick up a lot of sand and other stuff when they wrestle. This, plus the fact that the sea lions swim extra super-fast when they’re playing around, makes it relatively difficult to get clear photographs of such behaviour.

Sea Lion Silhouette

Tue, Mar 22nd, 2011 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures No Comments

Sea lions are sort of awkward and ungainly on land, especially mature individuals, because they’re large, heavy and aren’t really built for taking strolls on the beach.

Underwater however, it’s an entirely different story. Even big bulky boys like the one in this silhouette shot are sleek and swift, capable of executing a pinpoint turn in the blink of an eye.

Sea lion silhouette

Sayonara Sea Lions

Fri, Mar 18th, 2011 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures 6 Comments

Our final day with the sea lions was less eventful than the previous few, but a lot of fun nonetheless.

Sea lion sniffing its surroundings like a puppy

It’s been a terrific trip, and I have a lot that I’d like to share, but I’m still preoccupied with what’s going on in Japan.

Even as I’m writing this, I’m watching footage on TV of a few people who were just rescued from the freezing conditions in northeast Japan, followed by a discussion of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant. It’s still difficult to fathom the scale of devastation, suffering and chaos.

Given the general uncertainty in Japan and reports from friends living near me that there’s still very little food or fuel available, I won’t be heading back to Japan until it makes sense to do so. For the time being, I’ll be even more homeless and disoriented than usual.

Two of a Different Kind

Thu, Mar 17th, 2011 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures No Comments

Today was another action-packed day, with about four hours of fun in the water with our sea lion friends. Among the day’s highlights, there was one particular pinniped with a penchant for kissing everyone:

Young sea lion coming in for a kiss

We also had a nice swim with a New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), which was unusual. There aren’t too many of them in the area, and they tend to be shy. But the one we swam with wasn’t terribly standoff-ish. With a little patience, we were able to get close enough to get a good look.

New Zealand fur seal hanging upside-down, with flippers sticking out of the water

The fur seal seemed to enjoy floating at the water’s surface with its flippers sticking out in the air. Perhaps this cute position is for thermal regulation, or maybe it’s just for fun. In any event, the encounter was a terrific bonus.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that our good luck with weather, water and animals so far will hold through tomorrow, which is our final day on the water.

Whiskers

Mon, Mar 14th, 2011 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures 6 Comments

Today was my first day in the water with Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea). Given what’s going on in Japan right now, I’ve been struggling with whether to post photos or not.

On the one hand, it’s difficult not to be preoccupied and worried about the chaos and confusion back at home.

On the other hand, no matter how bad things get, life has to go on, and there’s nothing to be gained by being depressed.

I’m still not quite sure what the right thing to do is, but my gut instinct is to focus on the task at hand. When I get back to Japan, I’m sure there will be a lot to deal with, but for the time being, here is a picture I took today, highlighting one of the things that makes these sea lions so cute…whiskers:

Australian sea lions have lots of whiskers

It was a great first day. Somewhat windy and choppy in the morning, which resulted in less-than-ideal visibility, but the sea lions were cooperative, and we all had many opportunities to interact with the playful pinnipeds.

Off to Play with Pinnipeds

Thu, Mar 10th, 2011 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures No Comments

After rushing a dozen or more things out the door, pulling an all-nighter in the process, I’m finally on my way to visit Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) again.

It’s been three years since I last had a chance to frolic with my frisky friends in Western Australia, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they’re doing and what’s been happening with their home on Carnac Island.

Self-portrait of me getting a kiss from an Australian sea lion

They are absolutely adorable animals (imagine aquatic labrador retrievers on speed), but they also face a lot of challenges…many of which, not surprisingly, are due to people.

The sea lion colony I’m visiting comprises wild animals, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll be there. Even if they are, there’s no way to be certain whether they’ll deign to spend time with uncoordinated goofs like me trying to keep up with their underwater antics. But they’re generally good natured and playful, so I’ll hopefully have nice pictures to post soon.

Several friends(?) from Singapore and Thailand will be joining the fun, and I’ll also have a chance to hook up with a few people that I’ve only communicated with online so far.

Oh, almost forgot. I need to pack.