New Zealand Fur Seals

We also had the pleasure of seeing two big colonies of New Zealand fur seals during our boat cruise in Milford Sound.


They may not look very agile flopping around on land, but these seals are exceptionally agile in the water. They can swim to depths of as much as 200m (600ft) and they can hold their breath for up to eleven minutes.

Hunted nearly to extinction for their fur in the 1800s and early 1900s, theses seals have been a protected species since 1946, thanks to New Zealand law. They've since made a healthy recovery.