If you have never seen a New Zealand fur seal up close and personal, then that should definitely be something that you add to your bucket list. These adorable creatures are really quite spectacular to watch in water. They are resilient and are making a population comeback after being near extinction just a few decades ago.

Fun Facts:

• The fur seal has external ear flaps. This makes them more similar to sea lions than to other types of seals.
• There are now more than 200,000 fur seals living today. This is great news since they were hunted to the point of near extinction not too long ago.
• Fur seals are most commonly found in New Zealand. They are also found in various parts of Australia.
• Fur seals love to stay close to rocky coastlines, which provide them with easy access to both land and water.
• Fur seals can dive deep underwater and stay there for longer periods of time than other species of seals and sea lions.
• They have been known to dive nearly 240 meters underwater and stay there for up to 11 minutes.
• Fur seals eat a variety of seafood. The most common foods in their diet include krill, octopus, squid, and fish.
• Fur seals engage in a behavior called jugging. This is when they lift their backside out of the water so that they can keep at least parts of their body dry.
• Male fur seals are much bigger than females. While males can either as much as 400 pounds, females tend to top out at 120 pounds.
• Fur seals can expect to live for 15 years.