Santos Beach hosts special seal

Gallery Update Video

MOSSEL BAY NEWS & VIDEO - With the December holiday season upon us, a rather large shape hauled itself on to Santos beach early on Saturday morning.

Leslie, the female elephant seal that was reported on in the Mossel Bay Advertiser two weeks ago, decided she had to make a final inspection of Mossel Bay's most popular north-facing beach, Santos.

Leslie, as she was named when she visited Jeffreys Bay in January (also on the main beach) is a two-year-old southern elephant seal weighing around two hundred kilograms. She has been visiting beaches in the Eastern and Southern Cape all year and was first spotted on the beach at Reebok two weeks ago.

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Last week Tuesday, she was reported on a rocky stretch of beach in front of the De Bakke Resort chalets. The volunteers of the Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Team (S.M.A.R.T.) did shifts and she was monitored night and day until she went into the ocean at about 23:00 on Friday night and could not be seen until she came out at Santos just after 06:00 on Saturday.

The reason for her presence is that she is in moult, an annual occurrence that lasts about four weeks. During this time, the seals do not eat and mainly stay on a beach.

Her moult can clearly be seen. Photo: Rene Hodges

Fortunately for Mossel Bay, the Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Team has been monitoring Leslie 24/7 and a large area was cordoned off over the weekend to protect the public as well as the mammal.

Beachgoers were fascinated by her and more than 500 people were informed by the S.M.A.R.T. volunteers over the weekend.

On Tuesday, she decided to explore the beach and ended up on the slipway of the yacht club. She is still being monitored and the volunteers will pack up and follow her wherever she goes until she finally leaves after her moult. For more information as well as daily updates on Leslie, visit the facebook page of S.M.A.R.T.

Watch a video below: