MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Mossel Bay Advertiser contacted the Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Team (S.M.A.R.T.) to find out the situation with regards to seals washing up on beaches.
Three weeks ago, 35 seals were found dead or dying on beaches in the greater Mossel Bay area.
S.M.A.R.T. committee member and volunteer Val Marsh said it was a relief that only seven dead seals were found the week after that and then two, compared with the 35 that were found three weeks ago.
She pointed out that it could be that there were more dead seals in rocky bays that were not visited and on Seal Island in the bay, that one did not know about.
Marsh said the seals were under yearlings. They were much thinner than normal and smaller for their age. This was not a black seal pup wash-up phenomenon, Marsh said. (Each year seal pups wash up because of bad weather.)
Carcasses
She said people should not be impatient about the carcasses not being removed quickly enough. She thanked the municipality that it had appointed outside contractors to remove the carcasses and she said these contractors had worked extremely hard and as fast as possible to remove the carcasses.
A large number of dead seals washed up in the Cape recently and more seals than usual from the West Coast to Qqeberha. Respected South African marine scientist Tess Gridley, based in the Cape, said she was still awaiting necropsy reports from the State. She had been waiting for five weeks.
Gqeberha-based marine scientist Greg Hofmeyr said the dead seals washing up in Queberha were extremely thin and it was thought they had come from the Cape. He said the animals were young and recently weaned, almost a year old.
He said the animals at Seal Island, Robberg in Plettenberg Bay and in Algoa Bay were fatter and in better condition, therefore he believed the dead seals washing up had come from the Cape and were not local animals. "This is just one line of thinking," he said.
Hofmeyr said he had visited the colonies from Mossel Bay to Gqeberha and the "animals are in very good condition".
All ages
He said the deaths of seals in the Cape were of animals of all ages.
He said the seals washing up from Mossel Bay to Gqeberha looked as if they were starving, with no obvious signs of any other condition.
"It seems to me these are starving animals that are moving eastwards from around Cape Town and it seems they are younger animals that are more inclined to travel further afield, especially recently weaned pups."
Hofmeyr said it was vitally important that members of the public continued to report stranded seals to S.M.A.R.T. (072 227 4715) so that statistics and data could be compiled.
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