Blog 8 Kangaroo Island

The last day of February saw us up bright and early for our tour to Kangaroo Island.  Our bus picked us up at 6:15 am for a 1 ½ hour drive to Cape Jervis where we would catch the ferry for our trip across the Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island.  Kangaroo Island, Australia’s third largest island, lies about 8 miles from the mainland.  It is 90 miles long and at its widest point is 34 miles (its shortest width is 1 mile).  It is haven for wildlife viewing with its kangaroos, koalas, sea lions and seals, and multitude of birds.  The crossing on the Sealink Sealion, a large catamaran ferry that holds about 150 passengers and up to 50 cars took about 45 minutes.  Once on the shore, our tour started in earnest.

We were met by our tour guide Gary and started the day with a trip to Seal Bay Conservation Park where a large colony of Australian Sea Lions reside.  We were met by a Park Ranger who took us down to the beach to observe up close and personal these beautiful (and cute) animals.  Once this area was teeming with sea lions, but after years of hunting for their fur, there numbers have declined drastically and they are considered “vulnerable” by the Australian government.  Another reason for their decline is that they are not the best reproducing species – only in about 1 of three tries does a female become pregnant and once born over 1/3 of the pups never make it to maturity.  Gestation time for new pups is 17 months, and as soon as a female gives birth, she will more than likely get pregnant again.  Although pups are easy prey for predators like sharks and eagles, they are also susceptible to diseases such as hook worm.  The ranger said that they are studying ways such as vaccination to try and help increase the number of sea lions.  Some other interesting facts about the sea lions are:

• ·         Sea lions typically live for 8 to 9 years
• ·         Breeding cycles happen only once every 18 months and females will only breed at the site where they were born
• ·         Breeding colonies are located only on remote areas of the coastline or islands and only 66 breeding colonies are known
• ·         Estimated known population of sea lions is between 9,900 to 12,500
• ·         Population numbers are not growing and Australia sea lions are not expanding their range of colonies
• ·         Typically, fewer than 25 sea lion pups are produced annually and this number continues to decline
• ·         Each sea lion colony is genetically distinct from neighboring colonies and other populations
• ·         The death of even a single female can have a negative impact on a colony’s survival, especially if the colony has a very low population

There were several mothers with their pups on the beach.  Most of the pups are big enough to have been introduced to the water and there were some that were playing in the waves.  They seem to especially enjoy surfing in the waves.  Many of the adults were sleeping on the beach.  They go out to sea for about 4 days of feeding and in that time, they do not sleep (they cannot sleep in the water like some ocean creatures).  They must then rest before going back out to sea.

Mother Australian Sea Lion and her pup

Australian Sea Lion Pup

Tracks of Wallabies (the two outside) and seal lion tracks (center)

When we left the seal colony, we drove to a small island hotel where lunch was waiting for us.  We had a nice selection of salads and a piece of chicken and a beef sausage.  Desert was a berry cheesecake, which was outstanding.

From lunch we drove to the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary where kangaroos, wallabies and koalas roam free, or in the case of most koalas, sleep in the trees.  This area used to be a farm, but the owner decided to turn it into a place of safety for the wild animals.  His wife planted many Tasmanian Blue-Gum trees (one of 106 species of eucalyptus tree) and it turns out that these are favorites of the koalas.  Although koalas were not native to Kangaroo Island, 14 where brought here in the 1920’s and they have flourished.  Today it is estimated that 44,400 koalas live on Kangaroo Island.  They are very territorial and spend their entire lives living in just 2-3 trees.  In fact, if a koala is removed from one tree and place in a different tree, they may become sick and die.  They eat about 2.2 pound of eucalyptus leaves a day, and so, like the elephants with the acacia trees in Africa, they are in danger of killing off their food supply.  Before our guided tour of the koalas we walked around several of the roads where some kangaroos were resting.  When the temperature is as hot as it has been these past several days, kangaroos are not active during the day.  We were lucky enough to see a mother kangaroo resting with here joey sitting next to her.  We then had a guided walk through the eucalyptus trees where many of the koalas were sleeping.  In one tree we saw a mother and her baby.  The baby was about 9 months old and no longer stayed in her pouch, but it was asleep on the branch just above her.

Kangaroo and her Joey

Resting Kangaroo

Koala mother (bottom) and her 9-month old baby (top)

From the Wildlife Sanctuary we drove to Flinders Chase National Park on the rugged southwest coast of the island to view the Remarkable Rocks.  These rocks were created over 500 million years ago during a huge geological upheaval that caused the rock far below the earth’s surface to melt.  This molten rock, or magma, was buoyant and began rising to the surface.  About 6 miles from the surface, this magma began to cool and turned into granite blocks.  As the rocks above these granite blocks began to erode, these blocks began to fracture into sheets or layers.  As these blocks were further exposed to the weather, this granite dome with its blocks of granite rocks appeared.  This rock formation as well as Uluru (Ayers Rock) are know as “domed inselbergs” (islands of rock).  Bill and I both climbed up the rock and admired a beautiful view of the coastline.

Remarkable Rocks

On top of Remarkable Rocks

Scenic coastline as seen from Remarkable Rocks

Our next trip took us past the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse to another display of geographical nature – Admirals Arch.  This distinctive rock bridge was created by thousands of years of erosion.  Stalactites hang from the rocky ceiling of this arch.  To reach the Arch, you have to walk down a long boardwalk and then about 70 steps – the Arch is not visible from the upper coastline.

In the rocks surrounding this arch live a colony of dark brown New Zealand fur seals.  In summer they breed on the land, but the water pools around the rocks are perfect places for the pups to play.  There were quite a few of these seals playing in the water and resting on the rocks.

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse

New Zealand Fur Seal

New Zealand Fur Seal pup

New Zealand Fur Seals playing in the water

Admirals Arch

Out last stop was to the Flinders Chase Visitor Centers for a quick toilet and snack break.  Here I found a lonely koala asleep in a tree, and in a nearby tree a beautiful red and blue Crimson Rosella.  From here we drove back to where we would board the ferry for our return to Adelaide.  We were about 45 minutes early, so our guide stope in the little ferry town of Penneshaw for those that wanted to get some dinner.  Bill got a lasagna to take on the ferry, but I decided to wait and get something on the ferry.  They had a little café and I was able to get a chicken salad sandwich.  Once across the water and back at Cape Jervis, another bus driver was there to take us back to our hotels.  We arrived back at the Riviera Adelaide Hotel about 10 pm, tired but thoroughly happy with our wonderful tour.  There was just so much of Australia’s wonderful wildlife and scenery to see – the koalas, kangaroos (and none tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of our buses), sea lions and seals, the beautiful birds, and best of all, no snakes!!!

Sleeping Koala

Crimson Rosella