Talk:Arctocephalus forsteri/Archive 1

Latest comment: 15 years ago by Privatemusings in topic distribution....
Archive 1

Eyelids?

 
New Zealand Fur Seal (click photo to enlarge)

I'm not sure I'm in the right section, but here goes. My partner and I were anchored in a cove on the south island of New Zealand yesterday. A seal came and circled the boat a number of times and then moved away but continued to watch us. It was pretty awesome to witness. But I want to know if seals have eyelids and if they do, do they blink? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jmoff (talkcontribs) .

I've seen an NZ Fur Seal asleep, with eyes closed, so they definitely have eyelids. I'm pretty sure I've seen them blink too, when annoyed by flies on land, although I don't know how frequently they'd do this in the water. The photo on the right is a bit blurry, but it shows at least a squint if not a blink. -- Avenue 01:14, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
Also, the first external link at Nictitating membrane shows a nice animation of a seal's "third eyelid". Sea lions reportedly use theirs mainly on land; maybe something similar is true for seals. -- Avenue 10:02, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Maori Name?

I see it is listed here as Kokono. The NZ Department of Conservation lists it as Kekeno. Which is right?

A Google vote for fur seal kekeno vs fur seal kokono declares kekeno the winner ;-)

http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/podcover.aspx?id=33274

Possibly this is a local dialect thing? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 222.153.172.203 (talk) 05:49, 28 December 2006 (UTC).

distribution....

I think the seal who's been living in Sydney harbour for the last month is probably a bit unusual... but I'm told nz fur seals regularly get as far as Jervis Bay... is the distribution map perhaps a bit inaccurate? cheers, Privatemusings (talk) 11:39, 21 July 2008 (UTC)