Australian Sea Lion

The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) is one of the rarest pinnipeds (the group of fin-footed marine mammals that includes seals, sea lions, and walruses) in the world, found only along the southern and western coasts of Australia. Unlike most seals, they do not follow a strict annual breeding cycle. Instead, their 17-month cycle means different colonies breed at different times of the year.

These remarkable pinnipeds are superb divers, foraging on the sea floor for fish, squid, cuttlefish, and crustaceans, often reaching depths of more than 100 metres. Australian sea lions are endangered, with their populations threatened by entanglement in fishing gear, habitat disturbance, and historical hunting.