Study to reveal the secret lives of fur seals at sea

Source: NZ Department of Conservation

Date:  16 December 2025

Satellite tracking devices and dive data collectors were attached to eight female fur seals with pups, which will track their location, the dives they make, and the temperature of the ocean.

Dr Mia Wege from the University of Canterbury, who led the research says studying the fur seals will help researchers understand both where and when they are feeding and how that relates to what’s going on in the ocean.

“Previous unpublished research found that some fur seals tracked from Kaikōura travelled to Cape Palliser in the North Island and Otago Peninsula as part of their foraging trips. The new research will help build the picture of what these fur seals do when they are out in the ocean and what interactions they are having with other breeding haul outs around the country.”

Dr Jody Weir, who leads fur seal work for the Department of Conservation, says female fur seals have been chosen because as the producers of pups they are key to the health of the population.  

“We see through starvation and disease events that females in particular have high energy needs – carrying a pregnancy demands good nutrition, and we’re seeing high numbers of aborted pups, and dead pups, which could be partly due to low quality or quantity of milk.”

Mia adds, “Ultimately the success of females and their pups is linked to what is happening in the waters surrounding Kaikōura where the female hunt for prey, which is why we want to track them.”

Jody says the fur seals themselves will help researchers learn more about the health of our oceans by collecting data on marine temperatures and where foraging occurs.

“Fur seals are a sentinel species, providing an early warning signal about changes in their environment, so we can learn a lot about the health of the wider ocean ecosystem from studying their behaviour and the threats they encounter.

“Earlier this year, we detected a new strain of canine distemper virus in young fur seals at Kaikōura and Cape Palliser, which is causing pups to die, and there were hundreds of fur seals who died of starvation in the spring of 2023.

“Ongoing monitoring efforts are critical for understanding the health of populations and patterns over time. While in some places fur seal numbers appear to be increasing or stable, there is a very different story unfolding on the West Coast of the South Island.

“In 2025, the number of pups born at Wekakura Point, Cape Foulwind and Taumaka Island were found to have declined by 83%, 71% and 61% from the 1990’s. As the decline has not been linear, we couldn’t have detected this long-term trend without the regular monitoring run by DOC rangers at those sites.

“Many people think our fur seals are doing just fine, but with the changes we’re already seeing in our oceans and the looming threat of Avian Influenza, which now appears to be impacting pinnipeds (a group of mammals including seals and sea lions) more severely than birds, we may have a very different picture in a few years’ time.”

While out naturing this summer, DOC and Biosecurity New Zealand are asking the public to report if they see three or more freshly dead fur seals anywhere around the country, by calling the exotic pest & disease hotline – 0800 80 99 66.

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