Galápagos Fur Seal: Facts and Where to See It

Both are eared seals and look alike, but the fur seal is smaller, with a broader, shorter head, bulging eyes and ears that stick out further. Its front flippers are larger, for climbing over rough rock, and its coat is much thicker. The sea lion lies on open beaches; the fur seal prefers rocky, shaded places, which is why visitors see it less, even though the two populations are of a similar size according to the Galapagos Conservation Trust.

• Night hunter. Large eyes let it hunt in the dark and watch for sharks. It usually dives 10 to 50 metres for fish and squid close to shore.
• Moon-shy. It hunts less at full moon, probably because it is more visible to sharks and its prey moves deeper.

Fur seals live in large colonies that females divide into territories in the breeding season, mid-August to mid-November. Each mother has one pup and stays with it for a week before leaving to feed, then comes back for a few days at a time to suckle it. Mothers and pups know each other by smell and by call, and a female nurses only her own pup, often driving off others. The Galápagos fur seal has the lowest reproductive rate reported in any seal.

Guide sighting records list fur seals at 7 sites. 1 is rated Likely: the rock grottoes at Puerto Egas (James Bay) on Santiago. Buccaneer Cove, Post Office Bay and Punta Vicente Roca are rated Possible, and Isla Lobos and two sites on Genovesa, Darwin Bay and Prince Philip's Steps, Rare. The Galapagos Conservation Trust names James Bay and Darwin Bay as the easiest places to see them.

Fur seals can be seen all year round. October is the best month for pups. In the next twelve months, 865 departures stop at a site where they are seen.

Yes, it is listed as Endangered. Hunted almost to extinction for its fur in the early 20th century, it has been protected since 1934 and within the national park since 1959. El Niño is now the main threat: in 1982 and 1983 almost all young fur seals died, with about 30 percent of adult females and nearly all large territorial males. A census in 2014 to 2018 counted 3,093 fur seals in 2018, after a 38 percent drop in the El Niño year 2015, and the authors estimate that numbers have halved since 1978. Feral dogs and plastic add to the risk.

1. Looking on the open beach. Fur seals rest in shade, in grottoes and crevices.
2. Confusing them with sea lions. Look for the smaller, broader head and the thick coat.
3. Climbing into the grottoes. Stay on the trail; park rules ask for at least 2 metres of distance.