Sea lion camera reveals mother taking pup on educational foraging expedition in the wild |
Most seals give birth to a pup around the same time each year, and wean them and send them on their way within 12 months in an annual cycle.
Australian sea lions are different. They have an 18-month breeding cycle, out of sync with the seasons, which has puzzled scientists for years.
So compared to other seals, Australian sea lion mothers spend an extra six months or more nursing their pups. Why this is so remains a mystery.
In our latest study, we captured footage of an Australian sea lion mother taking her 11-month old pup on an 8-hour foraging trip to sea. This footage provides the first direct evidence we have that Australian sea lion mothers pass on foraging skills to their pups – which may have helped shape the unique life and reproductive patterns of this endangered creature.
To get a closer look at how Australian sea lions rear their young, we........