Seals at Shag Point

First of all, a shag is a sea bird and Shag Point is a place in New Zealand where they are found in large numbers. It is on the South Island, just north of Dunedin. Of course, in NZ terms ‘just north’ means about an hour or so away. Here is a 360 panorama of Shag Point, the seal in the photo above can be seen in the panorama watching me watching it.

Shag Point is, thankfully, a little off the beaten track, where you can find nothing and everything depending on what you are looking for. If you interest is shops, clothes and a Starbucks then don’t bother. However, if you like rugged, exposed and windy coastline packed with local wildlife then this is the place to come. Shag Point is known locally for three things (apart from the cold wind) – shags, seals and penguins. Here colonies of seals bask on the rocks and at dusk penguins come up onto the beach and waddle to their burrows in the hillside. Shags are often seen holding out their wings to dry out their feathers after a fishing expedition.

Tags: coast, new zealand, panorama, rocks, sea, seal, shag, shag point