Taking sea lion’s share of the track

A female yearling sea lion dozes on a walking track at Lawyers Head yesterday afternoon under the watchful eye of New Zealand Sea Lion Trust chairwoman Jordana Whyte.

Miss Whyte said the pup, known as Paige, had been frequenting the area lately, and was likely looking for her 15-year-old mother, Gem, after recently being weaned.

Paige was the great-grandpup of Mum, the matriarch of the Dunedin sea lion population, immortalised in a statue at the Esplanade, in St Clair, Miss Whyte said.

Female sea lions typically found on Otago Peninsula were at this time of year commonly seen further south, including at St Clair-St Kilda, as pregnant females avoided males, weaned last year’s pups and got ready to give birth on the peninsula after Christmas.