PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Beachgoers are being urged to report seal pups washing up on local beaches after the recent rough sea conditions.
The Cape fur seal pups have started washing up on beaches over the past few days and are being held at Tenikwa Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre until sea conditions let up.
The washing up of Cape fur seal pups is an annual occurrence during the pupping season, which starts in November.
Experts from the local conservation organisation Wild Ocean explained previously that up to 45% of Cape fur seal pups born on the Robberg Peninsula drown within the first month of their lives due to large ocean swells.
"Such high rates of mortality prior to weaning are not unusual in fur seal pups," the team said.
"Displacement and drowning due to rough weather have been identified as the main natural factors causing high levels in Cape fur seal pup mortality at other breeding colonies along the south coast of South Africa, and have also been recorded in a number of seal species in other parts of the world."
They explained that young Cape fur seal pups cannot swim well and are born with a black coat, not yet insulated for survival in the ocean.
"They spend the first three months of their lives in a rookery among the rocks and boulders of the Robberg Peninsula north shore, while suckling rich milk from their mothers. While waiting for their mothers to return during short foraging trips to sea, they form large crèches close to the water's edge. Here, many get swept away from their rookeries - particularly during periods of high easterly winds and swell, notoriously common in summer."
Most drown and wash up on the mainland, especially on Robberg beach, but a few are rescued and then later returned to the colony by local tourism operators.
Beachgoers are urged to report seals on beaches to the Plett Stranding Network on 079 463 4837. The seals will be collected and taken to Tenikwa before being returned to their colony via boat when conditions improve.
Authorities also urged beachgoers to attempt to send a location pin of the seals to make retrieval more effective.
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