Seal Bay Conservation Park Achieve Advanced Ecotourism Certification!
Ecotourism Australia extends a warm welcome to Seal Bay Conservation Park for achieving Advanced Ecotourism Certification for their Boardwalk Tour, Seal Bay Experience, Twilight Beach Tour and for the Seal Bay Visitor Centre!
Seal Bay Conservation Park has been the heart of the Kangaroo Island community for generations now and has evolved into a world-class, award-winning tourism attraction. Kangaroo Island, situated just off Australia’s mainland, southwest of Adelaide, South Australia. Over one-third of the island is protected National Park, and you will find soaring cliffs, dense forests, and wetlands; as well as towering sand dunes and pristine white beaches. Kangaroo Island is also home to many native wildlife species, in particular, the Australian Sea Lion.
Seal Bay has been home to a colony of Australian Sea Lions for thousands of years and offers an exceptional, world-class nature-based tourism experience. Australian Sea Lions are the only endemic pinniped, or seal, in Australia, and are listed as a threatened species Nationally and in South Australia. Seal Bay Conservation Park, operated by South Australia's Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, offers engaging and interactive ways to see and experience Seal Bay and see the Australian Sea Lions.
Take a self-guided Boardwalk Tour along the 900m (return), wheelchair-friendly boardwalk meandering through limestone cliffs and untouched sand dunes, showcasing the stunning and ragged coastal scenery and sea lion colony. There is interpretive signage along the boardwalk ensuring visitors can learn about sea lion behaviour such as reproduction, hunting and resting. The Seal Bay Experience and the Twilight Beach Tour are great for those who want to learn all about these animals up close and in the company of a trained and knowledgable Ranger guide. Following your guide onto the beach, guests have the opportunity to see the sea lions up close as their pups play, bulls fight over dominance and mums nurse their young. Also recommended is paying a visit to the Visitor Centre to learn more about the history, characteristics and evolution of the population through the comprehensive and engaging interpretive displays.
Both the Seal Bay Experience and the Twilight Beach Tour take around 45 minutes and will educate you on the Australian sea lion. Your guide will be interpreting sea lion behaviour and what’s happening in the colony at that very moment. Every day is different – therefore every tour will be different.
Meeting Ecotourism Australia's Advanced Ecotourism Certification standards, you are assured that the strict minimal impact guidelines are applied and adhered to on all tours, and Ranger guides are present to monitor visitor behaviour and wildlife alike. Wildlife are never approached closer than 10 metres and tour groups are never bigger than 25 people to ensure that the sea lions do not feel threatened. The visitor centre is fully solar powered, rainwater is used throughout and heating/cooling are operated by gas. No vehicles are used throughout the tours to optimize the experience and minimize (noise) pollution and direct impact on the environment. Seal Bay Conservation Park are also heavily involved in ongoing monitoring, tracking and research programmes to support conservation of the threatened species, and all science, research and conservation activities are performed under the Australian Government’s Recovery Plan for the Australian Sea Lion.
Want to know more about Seal Bay Conservation Park and their products? Please visit their website.