A sea lion pup at Warrington Beach has been delighting visitors by touring the area and taking shelter under vehicles in the camping ground.
Born at Warrington Beach on January 4, it was now more mobile and had been expected to have headed out to sea by now, Department of Conservation coastal biodiversity ranger Jim Fyfe said.
"It's starting the process where the mother is moving it towards the sea. The local people ... have been keeping the campers ... informed. People know that she's there [the pup] and they are looking out for her.''
A second sea lion pup born in January was found dead, after being killed by a shark.
The pup was found washed up on Allans Beach by a Doc nature tour guide on Tuesday.
Mr Fyfe said a Massey University veterinarian pathologist had confirmed the pup had been attacked by a shark while still alive.
Despite it being an uncommon occurrence, Mr Fyfe said there had been sea lions killed by sharks at Allans Beach and other Dunedin beaches before.
"Around Sandymount we've got seal colonies, which is going to bring in sharks.''
The death takes the number of sea lion pups born on Dunedin beaches down to nine, with one more thought to have been born.
However, the pregnant mother, Gem, was yet to be seen at her usual breeding spot on Tomahawk Beach.
"Gem usually has her pup, quite famously, around Tomahawk. I'm quite pleased that Gem hasn't come up on Tomahawk this year because of the vehicle chaos,''Mr Fyfe said.
A sign at Smails Beach was being changed to inform beach-goers the east end of the beach was now prohibited to dogs due to a mother and her pup inhabiting that area, he said.
When the final pup was born, and provided there were no other pup deaths, it would be the most born since 1995 when sea lions started breeding again on Dunedin beaches.
