Early on a warm summer morning in December 1993 farmer George MacIntosh stepped out the front door of his farm near Taieri Mouth, Dunedin. Hearing a cry he thought was a kid goat he followed the sound and found something unique. It was a sea lion mother nursing a pup! George was amazed and phoned the Department of Conservation. After a site visit, DOC Rangers soon confirmed it was indeed a female New Zealand sea lion, and the pup was quite likely

the first one to be born on the mainland in over 150 years

Mum, as this sea lion became known, was tagged as a pup in the Auckland Islands in the 1986/87 breeding season. She was first seen on the mainland of New Zealand in The Catlins in 1991 by Dr Chris Lalas. Dr Lalas was able to determine the year she was born from her tag which was lost soon after. Mum had her first pup, Katya, at 6 years of age (1993). However, an aborted foetus was found in October 1992 and this is likely to have been Mum’s. She went on to give birth to 11 pups in the Dunedin area.

Last seen in 2010 aged 24, she was a local icon and a living legend. Although Mum herself is no longer with us you are likely to encounter her many descendants along the Otago coastline. Mum’s legacy continues to this day as the founder of Otago's sea lion population.

Mum, The Matriarch

1987 - 2010

A new whanau

Mystery girl has a pup

Discovered in May 2020. This female, thought to be a yearling at the time, had no identification. This makes her origins a mystery. She may have swum up from Stewart Island or the Sub-Antarctic Islands where not all pups are tagged and microchipped. She was given tags and a microchip so that she would be recognised in the future.

In 2024 she was found with her first pup, and so became a founder of her own Ōtepoti whanau.

Ōtepoti pup count

The Ōtepoti population is closely monitored and so most pups are found.

There are occasionally pups missed so these numbers only reflect known individuals.

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