Henry's Story

Residents and visitors to Adelaide have come to love Henry, an adult male Australian Sea-lion who lives on the Adelaide coastline.

Identified by the scars he bears from previous shark attacks, Henry’s frequent visits to Adelaide’s beaches and some more unusual places you wouldn’t expect to see a sea-lion, have made him somewhat of a local celebrity.

Although, nobody knows how old Henry really is, or where he was born, we do know he’s lived along Adelaide’s coastline for around ten years, possibly more.

Because sea-lions tend to establish a home range around their favorite fishing spots and sheltered coves where they sleep, we’re reasonably certain of Henry’s life history to date. He was probably raised at The Pages, a rocky outcrop situated between Cape Jervis and Kangaroo Island – the closest sea-lion breeding colony to Adelaide.

He then took up residence around Sellicks Beach and Aldinga along Adelaide’s south coast. Around ten years ago, he moved north of Largs Bay to the breakwater at Outer Harbor where he was regularly seen with around half-a-dozen sea-lions in a small ‘haul out’ – a place regularly used by seals and sea-lions to rest between fishing trips, away from the breeding colonies. Henry’s group of sea-lions consisted of himself, a female sea-lion who became known as Henrietta and younger animals - perhaps their offspring. During this time he caught the attention of locals who affectionately nicknamed him Henry.

Around five years ago, Henry suddenly left the small haul-out and moved to Holdfast Shores at Glenelg. Perhaps he simply discovered an easier life at this resort setting by the sea, where he could supplement his natural diet of fish and squid with human offerings or he may have been displaced from his group by a younger male.

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