The best kind of rescue is when an animal doesn’t need to be stressed out in the process; the Two Oceans Aquarium Seal Disentanglement team have been training to be super stealthy – we get to see their stealth in action!
Cape Town, South Africa (22 June 2023) – 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. This week, the Seal Disentanglement team got to put their training to the test, and use incredible stealth to save a seal from its entanglements.
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.
Cape fur seals feed on shoaling fish, squid, octopus, sharks and rays, all of which sometimes find their way into the maze of the waterfront, making the area a great place for the seals to hang out.
This disentanglement took place without the seal even realising it was happening. That is always the best kind because it means way less stress on the animal.
Watch closely, they practice incredible stealth to make this disentanglement.
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