Ensuring the recovery of endangered Australian sea lions
Australian Sea Lion Defence Campaign
After the resounding success of Operation Jeedara, Sea Shepherd Australia is returning to the Great Australian Bight to defend, conserve, and protect Australian sea lions - ensuring the recovery of this endangered species and the preservation of a healthy marine ecosystem.
Historically hunted for their fur, and exposed to commercial fishery bycatch, Australian sea lion numbers have fallen by over 60% in four decades. This decline has been rapid and consistent across their entire range, with the population now at such low levels that in 2021 the species was re-assessed and uplisted from ‘Vulnerable' to 'Endangered' under Australian environmental law.
With global oceans changing, human coastal populations expanding, and resource extraction technology developing rapidly, Australian sea lions face a multitude of threats to their population. These include prey depletion, habitat destruction (on land and at sea), increased temperatures and heatwaves, diseases, pollutants and marine debris.
We’ll be working with partner agencies to monitor population health via pup surveys across the species’ range, as well as investigating using artificial shelters for thermal relief to reduce pup mortality and measuring body condition via photogrammetry derived from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and habitat restoration projects.
Like Sea Shepherd has done globally in Africa and Tuvalu, Sea Shepherd Australia is providing critical support and resources to a government partner – The South Australia Department for Environment and Water’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
NPWS are responsible for looking after a large network of marine parks and helping execute the Australian sea lion recovery program. In Port Lincoln and the wider Eyre Peninsula, their team faces challenges in accessing key areas due to limited assets, particularly a boat. Sea Shepherd Australia is proud to support their efforts by providing a boat and crew, helping to bolster their capabilities and facilitate ongoing conservation work across a vast area, including over 40 offshore island colonies within South Australia's marine park network.
This work will primarily focus on a recovery program for Australian sea lions with the ultimate hope of reversing the population decline.
Currently, our efforts in Australian sea lion protection include:
- Supporting the South Australian Department for Environment and Water’s National Parks and Wildlife Service’s role in implementing the National Australian Sea Lion Recovery Plan.
- Conducting pup surveys across the species’ range to monitor population health.
- Exploring artificial shelters for thermal relief to reduce pup mortality and trauma.
- Utilising UAV photogrammetry for body condition monitoring.
- Undertaking habitat restoration and revegetation projects. Biological sampling of pups for the presence of disease, dietary analysis and DNA structuring.
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