New Zealand Wildlife Part II

After going to the part of Allan's Beach that had the ducks, we then headed to the ocean - the Pacific Ocean. The day was windy, rainy, and cold - just like Scotland, which is why the Scottish people settled there - but for looking at wildlife near the ocean, it just seemed perfect. First we went to the nursery, where the sea lions pups and their moms lived until the babies are old enough for fend for themselves. Because it was cold, they were all hiding in the grass - who knew sea lions and seals would get cold, but they do. Eventually, however, a pup came out and a mom with her pup did, too. The moms are a beautiful blonde, and the pups are brown.

Finally we went to the beach to see if we could find the yellow-eyed penguin, a severely-endangered penguin. For the last few weeks, none of the tours had seen one, but lucky for us, our guide found one standing in the brush. We also went to a rehab center where the penguins were molting. Because the penguins stand still for up to three weeks while they molt, the rehab center tries to bring them to their center where they can molt safely. We are awaiting a good picture of the penguin in the wild, but we got some good ones from the rehab center. It surprised us that the penguins lived in the bushes - we had no idea.

We had wanted to see the little blue penguins in the wild, but we were not in the right place. We did see them at the Antarctic Center, but seeing them in the wild would have been awesome. I guess we can't do everything!