A 17-Day Operation to Save Four Cape Fur Seals Trapped in Dry Dock

Photo Credit: Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation via Facebook

It may have taken 17 days, but through patience, quick thinking, and a little of Mother Nature doing her own thing, four Cape fur seals that were trapped deep inside a tunnel at Dry Dock have been safely guided back home!

Cape Town, South Africa (10 September 2026) – When reports came in regarding not one or two, but four Cape fur seals trapped inside the Sturrock Dry Dock, the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation knew they had a massive rescue on their hands – and boy, was it!

The Foundation’s Marine Wildlife Management team immediately got into wildlife rescue mode, venturing deep into the tunnels to assess the situation after Transnet drained the dock.

Once inside, they found that the seals were huddled at the furthest point, about 200m down. Unfortunately, slippery conditions meant they had limited options until the seals made their way out.

The marine team tried coaxing them towards the exit with torches and calls, and the seals certainly responded with loud calls. However, they did not come out. The team eventually resorted to conducting surveillance around the dock and discussed the next steps with Johan Coetzee, Dock Master.

Johan came up with an option to help remove the seals by releasing water into the tunnels to encourage them out.

“When this wasn’t successful, the team decided to return the following day because the seals were safe with access to fish,” TOAF said.

On Day Two, the team checked the tunnels and decided to wait for a call that the seals had exited, as some had been seen coming out in the evenings.

Then on the third day, the call came. A seal had exited the tunnel, and the team quickly made their way to the dry dock, where they worked together to secure it in a specialised net. The dry dock team then assisted with carrying the seal up the stairs.

Once at the top, Wildlife Monitor Abdullah settled the seal before carefully removing the net and releasing it back into the harbour.

A great success for the first seal, with three more to go!

“After patiently waiting for the remaining seals to make their way out of the tunnels, our Marine Wildlife team finally got the call on day six. One of the seals was happily playing in the water, allowing the team to safely secure it in a specialised net before releasing it back into the harbour.”

With the final two seals being much larger, they had to wait for the dry dock to be refilled so they could swim out safely.

But one of them had other plans. On Day 16, one of the larger seals simply made its way up the stairs and released itself back into the harbour!

“The final seal followed the plan on day seventeen, enjoying a swim as the dry dock slowly filled. Once the water reached the top of the steps, it climbed out, made its way to the release area, and returned to the harbour.”

Won’t you look at that! With a little human help and a gentle nudge, Mother Nature did its thing, and all four seals had returned to safer waters.

TOAF expressed its immense gratitude to Johann and his team at Sturrock Dry Dock, as well as Ashley and the Southey Contracting Marine Division team, for all their help and support throughout these releases and what turned out to be quite an incredible journey.