An endangered sea lion found only in South Australia and southern WA, famous for playful swims at Hopkins Island, Baird Bay and Jurien Bay.
Neophoca cinerea
The Australian sea lion is one of the rarest pinnipeds in the world, with about 12,000 animals in colonies from Kangaroo Island west to the Abrolhos. It is also one of the most playful, and licensed swim tours at Hopkins Island and Baird Bay (Eyre Peninsula), Jurien Bay and Carnac Island (WA) and Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island put snorkellers in the water with juveniles that mimic every move. Divers meet them on the reefs around the Eyre Peninsula, the Recherche Archipelago and Rottnest's West End.
Field notes
Ordered by how regularly the site is dived and how well it is documented. The species is listed in each site's recorded marine life; sightings are never guaranteed.
Sandy beaches and reefs at colonies on the Eyre Peninsula (Hopkins Island, Baird Bay), Kangaroo Island and Western Australia's Jurien Bay and Carnac Island. Licensed tours put swimmers in the shallows beside the beach. Pups and juveniles come out from the beach in a rush the moment swimmers are in the water: pale, whiskered, bright-eyed animals that circle, dive and mimic you. Adults watch from the sand.
Hopkins Island and Baird Bay (SA); Jurien Bay and Carnac Island (WA); Kangaroo Island; the Recherche Archipelago.
Year-round; tours run in calm weather.
Keep your hands to yourself and let them initiate. They are endangered and disturbance at colonies is illegal.