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Sea Lion !


Jigholio

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Y'now we fishos get to see nature at her best. I've watched 5 dolphins corral & then stun mullet by swinging their tails in great arcs. The teamwork is amazing, and it happened 3 feet from where I was standing! And I've hand fed sandy sprats to a Fairy penguin off Tomaree. Well today a sea lion came to pay us a visit, a very curious & friendly creature who hung around for a good 5 min no more than 10ft away & put on a great show. He/she was about 5ft long & we were very tempted to throw out some live mackerel & yakkas...in hindsight should have cos i'm sure that's what brought him to the boat. This happened between the heads this arvo in VERY lumpy conditions, straight after hauling the livies in on sabikis 3 or 4 at a time.hmmmm.

Also saw something weird toward the reef at Nth Head. A narrow tapered sickle shaped fin at least 2ft disappearing vertically into the wash, which there was a heap of. It looked like a tail lobe from a billfish or maybe a small thresher???

What would patrol inshore washes in no more than 30ft of water in such conditions...?? it has me stumped!

AND has anyone encountered sea lions in Sydney before/is there a colony nearby??

PS we got some good fish, all under the scum line, but that was a bit ho-hum after the earlier events :mellow:

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I just read today that seals have been coming into the harbour I dont know how far in they come tho. They reckon as its getting cleaner more wildlife is starting to venture in further. I saw a fairy penguin at Nth Sydney once all on his lonesome Ive wondered where theyre roosting. I did a dive with a fur seal colony a couple of months back down in Jervis Bay they certainly are very friendly and curious. Some people told me to grap a couple of rocks and bang them together to get their attention (they like anything they dont usually see). So I did that and they took little notice (obviously plenty of other divers have tried this) but it wasnt untill I started making a simple repetitive tune that they hung around me digging the rhythm. I had one entranced for a couple of minutes. But theyve got too much energy to hang around for long and they dart off to find something else to play with then along comes the next one. But there you have it - animals can appreciate music if only in its simplest form, I found that quite interesting.

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If he hadnt seen many boats before just seeing you would make him interested for a closer inspection. When we pulled up in the boat the seals were sitting on their rock and when they saw us they all started barking and jumping in the water, eager for a look at us strange creatures. But yeah he could probably hear that ticking from pretty far away and followed it up

Edited by yakfishing
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About this time last year I had a huge sea-lion grab my livie just outside north head at Bluefish Pt. Not my idea of fun and felt bad for it as I had to cut the line, there was no way I could remove a live bait hook from a 400kg rottweiler with fins!

2 weeks ago I saw 3 fairy penguins cruising around middle harbour just west of the Spit.

I also have seen a few small penguins feeding around Clifton Gardens too over the last few years.

There's no shortage of these non-fish predators around Syd Harbour. They are impressive creatures to watch but seem to send any nearby fish into hiding!

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Seals and sealions have a bit of novelty value when you first see them, but wait till their numbers build up and they start pinching snapper kings etc from your line, they won't be looking so cute and furry. BIG problem in Tas......

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I often see seals around the close in reefs out of Broken Bay, sometimes very large ones. A number of times I have watched them throwing fish they have caught around and tearing chunks off a bit at a time.

You may have made a good decision in not feeding them.

I fed one once then someone pointed out that they can just as easily jump up onto a boat as onto a rock.

Much as they are amazing creatures, I don't think I would enjoy that level of intimacy.

Cheers,

Rick

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About a week ago I found a little fairy penguin balling up a school of glassies kust of Cammeray Marina. Was very cool to watch.

He let us drift right past him without any fear. Even sounded under the boat a few times, coming straight back up the other side.

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AND has anyone encountered sea lions in Sydney before/is there a colony nearby??

Couple of years ago I had a big sealion come out of no where right up to the rock ledge within a about 10 feet of me whislt fishing off Old Mans Hat. Scarred the crap out of me. Suspect he/she was attracted to the blackies i was catching.

Dave

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