First contemporary record of New Zealand fur seals Arctocephalus forsteri breeding in Bass Strait.

Abstract

DURING the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (1798 - 1825), large numbers of fur seals were hunted on the islands off southeastern Australia. It is estimated that >300,000 pelts were collected before hunting became commercially nonviable and the seals gained statutory protection in 1889 (Warneke and Shaughnessy 1985). Two types of fur seals were known to occur in southeastern Australian waters but cargo records from the sealing vessels active in the area do not accurately identify the species taken, referring to them only as “black” and “brown” seals (Goldsworthy et al. 1997). There are currently two species of fur seal found in these waters: the New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) and the Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus). Based on pelage colour, it has been suggested that these species correspond to the “black” and “brown” species, respectively, referred to by the sealers (Goldsworthy et al. 1997).