However, another city councillor and a wildlife advocate say they are pleased to see the video gone, and hope more appropriate behaviour will be promoted in the future.
The offending video marked the launch of Enterprise Dunedin’s latest destination campaign, but was roundly criticised online until its removal yesterday afternoon.
The video features a group playing touch rugby on an Otago Peninsula beach while a large male sea lion lies the foreground. As the game moves towards the sea lion, it raises its head and lumbers a few steps towards the group.
The post is captioned: "You should see how wild things get during a game of nude rugby ... the wild-life capital of New Zealand, indeed" — and a disclaimer states the video was filmed "under strict
conditions".
In a statement early yesterday, the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust said the video showed the sea lion being "actively disturbed as he rises from sleep".
"This is disappointing as they come to shore to rest and recover, and they have a right to do it in peace."
Trustee Chloe Barker later told the Otago Daily Times the trust had not been consulted on the video and it ran counter to education efforts encouraging people to keep at least 20m from sea lions and not to disturb them.
"It just kind of feels like it undoes a little bit of the good work ... that not only the trust but the whole community has been behind."
Marketing campaigns, particularly those aimed at international visitors, should show "sustainable" interactions with wildlife, she said.
"We completely understand how exciting it is to see a sea lion ... but we’d really like to see a promotion that helps to leave them in peace."
City councillor and economic development committee chairman Andrew Whiley said he thought the video was great and he was "extremely surprised" it had been taken down.
However, the crew had done a great job and had met — "if not exceeded" — wildlife care requirements, he said.
"As most people know, it’s amazing what you can do [with] cameras."
A tiny part of the population would always lack the common sense to respect wildlife boundaries but, "we have way more issues with how our local community engage with wildlife than I think we have with tourism", Cr Whiley said.
Dunedin destination manager Sian Sutton said while wildlife care protocols had been followed, Enterprise Dunedin acknowledged the footage had caused concern and the segment had been withdrawn from future use.
The agency had worked closely with the Department of Conservation and local wildlife experts during filming.
"The clips used in the video were filmed from a distance of at least 20 metres away, and people featured were at least 50 metres — a telephoto lens was used to achieve the effect shown in the video."
She was happy with the overall reaction to the new marketing campaign.
Cr Steve Walker said he was pleased the video had been taken down.
Earlier this month, he had told the council to prepare for a backlash but he wished he had been more firm in his critique of the video.
"I have no issue with using these beautiful creatures in our marketing material, but that marketing should also... give some sense of the behaviour that is required around them.
"A lot of effort has gone in by pretty much everyone in the city to make people aware of how they’re meant to act [around sea lions] — let’s not give any opportunity for that to be wound back."
