A woman has been caught on camera dancing close to a protected sea lion at a Dunedin beach, before the endangered animal lunges at her and she makes a narrow escape.
A Dunedin woman captured the footage at Sandfly Bay on the Otago Peninsula today.
It shows a young woman dancing in front of a large New Zealand sea lion on the beach.
After about 20 seconds the protected marine mammal becomes increasingly agitated and lunges at the woman, but she manages to get away.
Another photo posted on an Otago Peninsula social media group shows a visitor to the beach posing for a photo and waving beside another large sea lion, who appears to be a bull.
The woman who took the photos and uploaded the footage said she wanted to show tourists visiting New Zealand ''what not to do''.
"There needs to be more education for tourists coming to visit NZ re wildlife viewing,'' she wrote.
New Zealand sea lions ( rāpoka/whakahao ) are a nationally critical species according to the Department of Conservation (Doc), with only about 12,000 remaining in the wild.
Doc advises keeping at least 10m away from sleeping sea lions and 20m from active animals.
