Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01314:reg:2013:p4
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01314
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2013 (pt 4/24)
Character Range: 9128–11894

Australian sea lions is around 17–18 months. The Australian sea lion is unique among pinnipeds in being the only species that has a non-annual breeding cycle that is also temporally asynchronous across its range (Ling & Walker, 1978; Gales, et al., 1992; Higgins, 1993; Gales, et al., 1994; Shaughnessy, et al., 2006). This means the breeding period (copulation and birthing) in one colony will occur at different times to breeding in another colony. In effect, over a 24 year period, breeding will have occurred across all calendar months.

2.2 Diet and foraging behaviour

The Australian sea lion is considered to be a specialised benthic forager — that is, it feeds primarily on the sea floor. Studies have shown that the species will eat a range of prey, including fish, cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish and octopus), sharks, rays, rock lobsters and penguins (Gales & Cheal, 1992; McIntosh, et al., 2006; Baylis, et al., 2009). The Australian sea lion feeds on the continental shelf, most commonly in depths of 20–100 m (Shaughnessy, 1999). Australian sea lions typically travel up to about 60 km from their colony on each foraging trip, with a maximum distance of around 190 km when over shelf waters (Hamer, et al., 2011).

2.3 Distribution

Breeding colonies for the Australian sea lion are found only in South Australian and Western Australian waters; however, the species is known to forage in Commonwealth waters adjacent to these states. The historical range for the species was thought to extend into Bass Strait but any breeding colonies there were likely eliminated through commercial hunting which took place during the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries (Ling, 1999). The species full historical range is unknown due to lack of accurate historical records.

The current breeding distribution of the Australian sea lion extends from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands on the west coast of Western Australia to the Pages Islands in South Australia

(Figure 1). Australian sea lion pups have been recorded at 76 sites over the past 20 years,
with 28 occurring in Western Australia and 48 occurring in South Australia. Of these sites,
58 are considered breeding colonies, following the currently accepted definition of a breeding colony for the Australian sea lion, which is, a colony at which more than five pups have been recorded (Goldsworthy & Page, 2009). For the purpose of this recovery plan, these 58 sites are considered habitat critical to the survival of the species (refer: Appendix 1) because they are used to meet essential life cycle requirements (i.e. breeding). The other 18 sites are considered to be haul-out sites with only occasional breeding. There are also another 151 locations which have been recorded as haul out sites — places