Dunnedin

New Zealand Fur Seal

We spent the morning traveling to Dunnedin. The countryside changing from mountains to rolling plains with cattle, sheep, and deer farms scattered throughout. On arrival, we took a trip down the Otago peninsula to see the wildlife. We had a choice of penguins, albatross, or seals and penguins. We chose the latter, Nature's Wonders, and on arrival got into an 8 wheeled ATV with a driver. It was like a Disney ride as we went through mud holes, water holes, and climbed steep hills. We had a beautiful view of the peninsula and harbor area from 160 m up. Then we descended to sea level to see a colony of New Zealand fur seals. There were quite a few babies and well as adults. In the ocean were huge belts of kelp, which grow at a rate of 1 meter/day. We then traveled to a different area to see penguins. Sheltered under a rock we saw a couple of little blue penguins, the smallest penguin. Fifteen percent of the world's population of yellow-eyed penguins live on this peninsula. At one point they were down to 900 penguins, but today there are about 1200. They were very difficult to spot until finally one came out of the ocean in the distance and another turned around so we could see its white belly in the bushes, a fun experience.

Little Blue Penguins (at Antarctic center)