Neophoca cinerea
Silhouette: Juan Carlos Jerí · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea), also known as the Australian sea-lion or Australian sealion, is a species of sea lion that is the only endemic pinniped in Australia. It is currently monotypic in the genus Neophoca, with the extinct Pleistocene New Zealand sea lion Neophoca palatina the only known congener. With a population estimated at 14,730 animals, the Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia (1950) has listed them as "in need of special protection". Their conservation status is listed as endangered. These pinnipeds are specifically known for their abnormal breeding cycles, which are varied between a 5-month breeding cycle and a 17-18-month aseasonal breeding cycle, compared to other pinnipeds, which fit into a 12-month reproductive cycle. Females are either silver or fawn with a cream underbelly, and males are dark brown with a yellow mane and are bigger than the females.
Australian sea lions are sparsely distributed across their range, from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands (28°S, 114°E) in Western Australia, along the southern Australian coast to The Pages Islands (35°46'S, 138°18'E) in South Australia. Sixty-six breeding colonies have been identified... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sea World | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Adelaide Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Sea Life Sunshine Coast | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Sea Lion sighting in Flinders Chase on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 6th most-seen of the 9 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and December
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Sea Lion in Flinders Chase on a given day, against about 10% in June, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Sea Lion sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Flinders Chase, in our data
Flinders Chase is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Australian Sea Lion sightings: about 50% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Otariidae
The closest relatives of the Australian Sea Lion that you can see in Flinders Chase (family Otariidae, Eared Seals) are Long-nosed Fur Seal (about 60%) and Afro-Australian Fur Seal (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Australian Sea Lion is recorded against all the mammals logged in Flinders Chase (29 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
