A group of tourists got an eyeful while touring Kangaroo Island last week, witnessing an incredible act of nature play out on the shoreline. The flailing movements in the waves caught them off guard, and initially thinking it was one animal causing the commotion, it was only on further inspection they realised there were two involved.
Tour guide Luca Lovison told Yahoo News it is “so rare to see” and was delighted to have caught the moment on camera. “We saw a sea lion playing with something. It was actually his lunch! A huge octopus, he was tossing it and pulling it to try to break it, I guess,” he told Yahoo.
The stunning photos show the sea lion in the throws of breaking down his lunch, swinging the octopus above his head and against the sand beneath him. The octopus being held in the sea lion’s mouth while its eight tentacles are fanned mid-air creates a striking shape, making it difficult to distinguish the animals from one another.
Sea lions eat a wide variety of marine animals but seeing it capture its meal up close and personal was ‘rare’. Source: Facebook/Luca Lovison
Endangered sea lion population on Kangaroo Island is dwindling
It’s well-known that sea lions eat a wide variety of seafood but Luca and his guests were lucky to catch sight of his dining quests “so close to the beach”.
The sea lions found on Kangaroo Island are an endangered species, with an entire estimated population of just 12,000. Roughly 800 live in Sea Bay on the island, with their small external ear flap making them their own species native to the country.
The colony attracts more than 100,000 travellers to the island each year. The only research facility in the world dedicated to the species is situated on Kangaroo Island. However, over the last 20 years, the sea lion population has been dwindling. Both natural factors and environmental impacts of humans are contributing to putting them at risk.
As the sea lions boost tourism and allow visitors to witness spectacular scenes like last week, those working in the research facility ask people to do their bit to minimise environmental impact while visiting.
“When visiting Kangaroo Island you can do your bit by being mindful of your ecological footprint, picking up marine pollution on our beaches and visiting our breeding colony at Seal Bay to learn more about the species,” Ashleigh Wycherley, Seal Bay Conservation Park research and operations coordinator, told Yahoo News Australia previously.
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