Two Hout Bay Seal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre volunteers freed a seal snared in fishing line on Melkbosstrand Beach last week.
Eliam Lipenga and Abel Banda were called out to help the seal in distress on Thursday October 24, according to the centre’s operations director, Kim Krynauw.
At 9am, the rescue centre was alerted to a yearling seal that appeared to be entangled in fishing line on rocks 40 metres from the shore.
“It was a quite challenging rescue as I had to swim out towards the rocks to reach the seal. Another issue we struggle with as rescuers is the fact that we don’t have any swimming gear so usually we just jump in the water when we do the rescues,” said Mr Lipenga.
On the beach, the pair removed the fishing trawler line wrapped around the seal’s neck.
“The fishing trawler line had been attached to the seal’s neck for quiet some time. It was already starting to embed itself to its skin. They successfully removed it and fed the animal with a hydration formula and took it back to the centre,” Ms Krynauw said.
“We find lots of entangled seals mostly on fishing lines, hooks and fishing nets. The challenge is to swim out to these seals. This particular seal had fishing line from the big trawlers that get thrown into the water. The animal would have eventually starved to death and died horrifically.”
Although the seal was found to be very underweight and traumatised, it was expected to make a full recovery, Ms Krynauw said.
Liezl Neethling, a Melkbosstrand resident who contacted the rescue centre after spotting the seal, said: “Fortunately time was on our side for the rescue as the tide was dropping. The seal was very tired and thin. It might have been entangled by the neck and flippers for a couple of days.”
Ms Krynauw urged the public to respect seals they encountered.
“The public should keep at least 20 metres away from them. If you think a seal has rabies, contact us and we’ll respond on the scene,” she said.(“Cause of Muizenberg seal’s death ‘inconclusive, says SPCA,” Sentinel, October 11).
Mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews said seal petting or any kind of direct contact with seals was illegal.
According to Ms Krynauw, the centre needs wetsuits, nets and other gear. For more information on how you can help, contact Kim Krynauw at 072 988 5193 or HBSRC@compute.co.za.
