an unidentified pinniped or a sea monster?

An event on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia in 1913, as related here by Hartwell Conder : "Monsters in Seas, Rivers and Lakes". “The animal was seen by Oscar Davies and W. Harris : www.authorsden.com/ShortStoryUpload/2411.doc .

However close a sighting is, if the creature is in the water, the witness does not see its whole body. Occasionally, a sea monster is seen on land. This happened on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia in 1913, as related here by Hartwell Conder. “The animal was seen by Oscar Davies and W. Harris. I have known both of them for a number of yours, and can guarantee their intelligence and accuracy. “They were walking along the coast when at a distance they noticed a dark object under the dunes, which surprised them by showing signs of movement. “They advanced toward it and came within gunshot. When about 40 yards off, it rose suddenly and rushed into the sea. After getting out about 30 yards it stopped and turned round, showing only the head, then withdrew under the water and disappeared. It was 15-feet long: had a very small head, about the size of the head of a kangaroo dog; it had a thick, arched neck; it had no definite tail and no fins; it was furry, the coat resembled a horse; it had four distinct legs, and it made definite footprints with a diameter of nine inches. There was no evidence of webbed feet. The creature travelled very fast. When first discovered, it reared up and turned on its hind legs. Its height, standing on the four legs, would be from three-and-a-half to four-feet tall. Both men were familiar with seals and sea leopards. They could find no resemblance. Bernard Heuvelmans commented on this sighting in his classic book, In the Wake of the Sea Serpents. He says the animal reminds him of a sea lion except that there are none in Tasmania and no sea lions are more than eight-feet long. Their footprints would not be so big, nor their heads small. Even such a close sighting as this takes us no nearer to identification

An unidentified pinniped perhaps? Sounds like one , maybe even Stella’s sea cow.