Seal continues Cape tour

The popular roaming elephant seal was an astonishing sight for visitors when the sea mammal stopped by at Kalk Bay Harbour on Wednesday morning 28 May.

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The adult male was previously spotted wandering on Sir Lowry’s Pass Road in Gordon’s Bay a day earlier.

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA received a call at 06:00 that morning and their staff arrived to assess the situation. The timeframe to ensure that the seal was safely returned became a nine-hour rescue operation involving a well-coordinated effort across multiple agencies to ensure the sub-adult male’s safety and eventual return to a more suitable coastal environment.

Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are the world’s largest seal species and are usually found in sub-Antarctic regions.

“While sightings in South Africa are rare, occasional lone individuals, typically young males, do haul out along our coastline during moulting or rest phases. But making it inland and into a neighbourhood is, by all accounts, highly unusual,” the Cape of Good Hope SPCA wrote on their website.

The seal was barricaded by vehicles at the corner of Avondrust Street and Sir Lowry’s Pass Road, the City confirmed.