New Zealand: Matakaea Reserve

A year and a day ago we continued north from the Orkokonui Ecosanctuary and stopped at the Matakaea Reserve, where we saw gulls and fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) sharing coastal rocks surrounded by bull kelp (Durvillaea antarctica or D. poha) darker than the yellow strain we’d seen at Stirling Point three days earlier.

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Most of the seals, like the one below, drowsed on the rocks. (Thanks to a 280mm focal length and some cropping of the image, you might think I was closer than I actually was.)

A few of the seals shook off their lethargy and mixed it up.

© 2018 Steven Schwartzman