Many a times I have hopped in my car and ventured out towards the ocean.  It’s almost like some internal calling.  I drive with great anticipation of smelling the salty air, the gale-force wind threatening to blow each hair off my head and the fact that if you take your shoes off to feel the sand underneath your feet they are sure to freeze off.  But despite that, the beach, the sand, the ocean – it calls me.  The other reason I keep returning is due to the fact that The New Zealand Fur Seal lives down this part of the country, and ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a fascination with seals and sea lions.  Yes they smell funny, yes they look funny but if you look close enough, they are magnificent animals.  So perfectly adapted for their environment, so flexible and oh so curious.  I have only ever seen one, and that was in Kaikoura on the drive from the North Island to the South Island.  Smelly? Yes, but I was mesmerized.   The one I saw was much bigger than I had imagined it would be.  So obviously living down the bottom of the South Island was going to have its advantages of having Fur Seals at my disposal.  Or so I thought.  I’ve been here for four years now and many, many trips to both Bluff and Riverton and not a single Fur Seal to be seen.  By me that is.  Fur Seals have been widely known to cause road blocks, police escorts and gates being installed in Bluff and the colony at Riverton is photographed as much as a rising Pop star.  But not by me!

Kekeno, the New Zealand Fur Seal was once hunted by the early European settles in the 1900’s but is now protected under New Zealand’s Marine Protection Act.  Hence the police escort when one wanders onto the main road in Bluff.  You just can’t go behind it and ‘herd’ it back to the ocean, these great animals may look docile and slow but they can move remarkable fast.  Or not at all if the moods strikes it.  So road-blocks are installed, directing traffic through the smaller roads in Bluff because the seal has decided it’s in no mood to move.  Signs are erected for tourists (and locals) to warn them NOT to get too close to them and especially don’t stand between the seal and the water.  Their teeth are sharp and many Kiwis (the human form) have been bitten.  The Maori name is Kekeno, sounds much nicer than the English version of New Zealand Fur-Seal.  Kekeno have external ears and hind flippers that rotate forward, making them quite capable to ‘walk’ on land.  The female measures 1.5m and weighs between 30 and 50kg, while the larger male can be a whopping 2.5m in length and weigh between 90 and 150kg!  Imagine that chasing you on land!  The total population of these animals in New Zealand is believed to be over 60,000 individuals.  And I still haven’t seen one down here, how is that possible?

The New Zealand Fur Seal can dive deeper than any other fur seal.  They have been recorded to dive to 238m for as long as 11 minutes at the time. Normally the dives are of 1 to 2 minutes and their main diet is migrating fish.

But despite the apparent lack of Fur Seals when I venture into Bluff or Riverton, I never fail to find something that is just spectacular.  On one occasion we went to a small beach where the sign on the gate clearly states ‘beware of the Fur Seal’, but they must have known I was coming and headed out to sea.  My co-pilots (or back seat drivers, aka my children) and I weren’t in the least bored as there was New Zealand Kelp (sea-weed) that just had to tugged on to see if it would come out (it didn’t), and my eldest insisted on carrying the little piece that did rip off with him for the next few days.  We combed the beach, we climbed the rocks,  we marveled at the views.  Ryan (the eldest) climbed some rocks in search for the seals and proclaimed ‘That is a big one’ , here’s me thinking it was a seal and I  hastily clambered up the slippery rocks to get a view of this elusive creature.  Half way up the rocks Ryan shouted ‘they are tying it up’.  My first thought was ‘why would anyone tie up a Fur Seal?’, but the picture was soon clear when I got to the top and saw he was talking about a REALLY big cargo ship that had just docked at the harbor.  Not to let that opportunity pass we got back in the car and tried to find our way to where the ship was.  So off the main road we ventured.  To my surprise and delight we found the ‘missing’ Maritime Museum located just off the main road in Bluff.  I say ‘missing’ because I had tried to find the museum on an earlier visit and failed to find it.  What a joy it was to see the name on the fishing boat on display outside the museum bore my name!  First time ever that I’ve seen a boat with my name on it.  So out the car I fly to get a few pictures.   Great!  Now I knew where the museum was, but we had bigger fish to fry (so to speak).  Onwards we went in search of a way to the harbor to see the chip.   We came across some factories with old crayfish pods in need of repair, boys (no, not those kind, the drifting ones!) and fishing nets.  Amid cries from the kids I off course venture out to take photos – ‘quick, the boat might leave’ they cried.  I somehow doubted that seeing it had only just arrived, but ok, back in the car, around the corner, through some gates that I’m sure we were allowed to go through, we parked the car.  Walking along the sea front, over the docks it dawned on me that there were no safety rails.  Camera in one hand and hood of Morgan (the youngest) jumper safely in the other, while telling Ryan to stay on the OTHER side of me, we walked to where the cargo ship was.  We sat on some concrete steps of an old warehouse (well away from the water) to watch the docking and activity.  Much more entertaining than television I can tell you.  While we were watching, seagulls flew overhead and a much smaller local fishing boat came in right beside us, so we watched him unload his catch too.   We were the only ones there, which was quite surprising seeing this was fascinating.  But that could also be because I do have a distinct feeling that we weren’t really meant to be there, but the locals being as friendly as they are, they didn’t seem to mind.

On the way back we bought fish and chips from the local chip shop, the best in Southland I’m sure.  It’s just a shame it’s too far from Invercargill to ‘just’ go and get chips, but we always get fish and chips when we are in Bluff.   So with happy kids in the backseat, my hair having received the biggest blow-out in history and my camera memory card half full we drove home quite happily even though we still haven’t seen the New Zealand Fur Seal in Southland.

Never mind, perhaps next time!

About the Author : 

Monica Toretto is a writer, painter, photographer and blogger. She lives with her two young sons in Invercargill near Bluff. She has travelled widely in Canada and the US and worked as a veterinary technician before returning to New Zealand. Her work has appeared in several magazines in the UK and New Zealand. She has also authored a book of poetry and photography called ‘Words’.