The Cape of Good Hope SPCA Wildlife Department responded to an adult Cape fur seal with a neck entanglement that was not the usual kind.
Also read: DFFE warns that seal harassment is a prosecutable offence
This week, their wildlife department was alerted to a big adult male seal (known as Brutus), a resident seal at the Kalk Bay Harbour, who showed up wearing a new neck ‘adornment’.
Wildlife Department Supervisor Jon Friedman went to have a look and was surprised at the entanglement he saw around the seal’s neck.
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‘This appeared to be something new; not the usual fishing gut or plastic box binding we find ensnaring seals,’ he said.
A piece of shaped plastic was all that could be seen from the outside, as the binding it was tied to was already embedding itself into the seal’s thick neck blubber.
Approached while still in his morning slumber in the sun on the harbour pier, a quick movement was required to get the seal hook under the line to cut it before annoying the sleeping seal.
Sensing disturbance, Brutus opened a wary eye and regarded his ‘helper’ with disdain but he also seemed to understand what the objective was here.
He drew himself up on his foreflippers and yawned a big yawn, exposing the entanglement that was now noted to be already cutting into his flesh.
The plastic shape of the item provided a handy hoop through which to snag the cutting hook and in a swift movement, the line snapped free and the entanglement slipped off.
Examining it, the item appeared to be the string and the plastic base of a children’s sucking dummy sweet, no less a danger to marine life than fishing line or plastic binding and a reminder to us all that anything with a hoop shape that is discarded into nature presents a possible ensnarement risk to a wild animal. It is for this reason that we urge all consumers to snap the hoops on things like plastic bottle tops, box bindings, and even the necklace of a child’s sweet before disposing of it responsibly in the nearest rubbish bin.
The SPCA urges all harbour visitors and harbour businesses to please enjoy these vital recreational areas responsibly and to dispose of hooped items, plastic packaging, fishing line and used fishing hooks in the bins provided, especially on windy days where they can otherwise be blown into the sea.
If you come across any wild animal in need of rescuing, please contact the Cape of Good Hope SPCA on 0833261604 or 0217004158/9, alternatively, email [email protected].
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Also read:
Watch: Cape fur seal thrashes thresher shark in nature showdown
Picture: Cape of Good Hope SPCA
