Ayanda Cimoni is part of the Two Oceans Aquarium Seal Disentanglement team and is specially trained to help free them from entanglements with pollution.
Cape Town, South Africa (29 June 2023) – Ayanda Cimoni is a seal hero, he is part of the specially trained team that supports seals located in the V&A Waterfront.
The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation works to protect our oceans by raising awareness and ensuring our ocean animals are safe. They also work within the harbour of the V&A Waterfront to care for the population of seals. Last week we shared, the Seal Disentanglement team got to put their training to the test, and use incredible stealth to save a seal from its entanglements. Since then, they have been very busy!
The Foundation runs the Marine Wildlife Management Programme at the V&A Waterfront. One of the core functions is seal disentanglement. They assist Cape fur seals that get caught in discarded fishing gear and items of plastic pollution.
The team is needed because seals often find themselves tangled up in nets and pieces of plastic. Sometimes, these seals will live with the pollution attached to their bodies for far too long. With this awesome team at hand, any time there is a seal in need, they work to save it. Even if it takes weeks to catch the clever seals.
The foundation celebrated Ayanda Cimoni’s efforts after he successfully removed “human-induced hazards” from the necks of three seals in just two days!
“Ayanda Cimoni disentangled three seals in two days!
Each of the three seals was entangled in nooses of either plastic or nylon (made from plastic). Naturally curious, seals inspect floating pollution and often get trapped. Our Marine Wildlife Management team (like Ayanda) keeps a careful watch on the seals in the V&A Waterfront to monitor entanglements.
These three seals remind us of the impact of pollution. In just one weekend, Ayanda saved three Cape fur seals from entanglement in human-induced hazards.”
You can follow more of the work the foundation is doing here.
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