Cape Palliser New Zealand Fur Seal Pups Wairarapa NZ
Photo & Vacation Spot

Two New Zealand Fur Seal pups explore the rocks along the coastline of Wairarapa, NZ where the Cape Palliser Seal Colony is located.

One New Zealand Fur Seal pup sits atop a multi-colored rock along the coastline of Wairarapa on the North Island of NZ as another pup uses his flippers to pull himself up. These pups will sit on the rocks at the Cape Palliser Seal Colony waiting for their mothers return to nurse them until they reach the age of 9 or 10 months, possibly a year.

As these New Zealand Fur Seal pups begin to mature, the feeding sessions become farther apart as they slowly learn how to survive for themselves. When the females are 4 or 5 years old, they have fully matured and begin to have pups of their own.

During the summer months in Wairarapa, NZ, the Cape Palliser Seal Colony is alive with pups lounging about on the rocks and hundreds of adults either playing about in the water below or shimming up the rocks to tend to their young.

New Zealand Fur Seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, at the Cape Palliser Seal colony, Cape Palliser, Wairarapa, North Island, New Zealand.