Zoos Victoria

Say No to Plastic Bags. Easy!

Act Now for the seal

What else can you do?

  • Choose Sustainable Seafood like Calamari, Whiting and Oysters.
  • Seal the Loop by recycling your plastics
  • When Fishing, ensure your discarded line does not end up in the sea.
  • Contact our AGL Marine Response Unit if you see injured marine wildlife. Call 1300 AGL MRU (1300 245 678)

Australian Fur Seals are built to survive the cold waters off south-east Australia.

They have soft insulating fur that traps air next to their skin as well as a thick layer of fat for energy and warmth

Males (Bulls) can weigh up to 360 kg and females (Cows) up to 110 kg.

Bulls establish and protect a patch of coast from rivals so as to breed with the most females. They pile on the weight during winter and spring and then live off their fat reserves as they protect their patch of rock all summer.

  • Australian Fur Seals belong to a group known as 'eared seals' (otariidae).
  • They can dive to depths of 500 metres, that’s twice the height of the Eureka Tower.
  • A fur seal’s diet is largely made up of fish, squid, octopus and occasionally lobster (on special occasions).
  • Their main predators are Great White Sharks and Killer Whales.
  • Seals use stored fat for insulation, energy and even water (produced when fat is metabolised).
  • Seals trap a layer of air next to their skin for warmth.
  • Over 200,000 Australian Fur Seals were hunted and killed in the 1800's for their fur and blubber.
  • Today their numbers have recovered somewhat with a population of around 50,000.

Fur Seal’s inquisitiveness can get them into tangles. Entanglement in debris discarded by us is by far their largest threat.

Despite being some of the best swimmers in the world, when flippers, necks and heads get tied up in old nets and fishing lines seals find themselves in serious trouble.

It is estimated that discarded plastic kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year.

Plastics persist in the environment for hundreds of years.

At our Zoos...

  • Fiesty - Melbourne Zoo
  • Tarwin - Melbourne Zoo
  • Iha - Melbourne Zoo

In the Wild...

  • Kangaroo Island
  • Phillip Island
  • South Australia
  • Victoria
  • NSW
  • Tasmania
  • New Zealand