On the shore of Amsterdam Island in the French Southern Territories, four scientists slalom between subantarctic fur seals. Their goal: to put chips on the baby sea lions to collect data on this colony.
‘This is the species that is doing the best in Amsterdam. The population is constantly increasing, which is quite encouraging for a species that had practically disappeared from the island,” explains Marie Fretin. The colony has recovered after more than a century of intensive hunting.
After intensive exploitation since the end of the 18th century, the species, which is only found in three regions of the world, was supposed to be extinct on Amsterdam Island. A few individuals had to survive and “they came back little by little”, comments Marie Fretin. In 2012, the last count estimated the number of young sea lions at nearly 30,000 on the island.
‘You have to have sensitivity and respect for the animal’, explains Marie Fretin, delicately catching a young female, while avoiding her bites. ‘The objective is to chip a hundred, including thirty mothers who have already been ringed. The microchip, which looks like the one you put on pets, won’t be put on until 10 months of age. For the moment, they are still too small,” she underlines.
Hundreds of births
It is then necessary to measure the small sea lion which does not let itself be done. On the homemade board, it is 63 cm for 5.7 kg. It must be between five and seven days old, according to Ms. Fretin. ‘We can estimate their age by looking at the level of scarring of the umbilical cord,’ she explains.
Once the fleas are laid, ‘we go there every day to make observations for the first two months, to check which mothers are present and to see how often the female returns to feed her young. Then there is a monthly follow-up to weigh and measure the youngsters’.
“We counted 500 births” for the previous season of 2021-2022, a record”, underlines Marie Fretin again. This season, scientists have already identified 330, but ‘we have not yet reached the peak’, she rejoices.
/ATS