Seals of Cape cross

Tweet

Moving onto the next part of our African journey we traveled about 400km the next day from Spitskoppe to the Cape Cross Seal Colony which is one of the largest in the world. The Cape Fur seals do not migrate however they have a shoreline of 1600km from Southern Angola round the tip of Africa to the Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth - South Africa), to call home. A few weeks ago my hubby asked me what was the worst smell I have ever smelled - remember that post I did? Well we all had our responses on what we thought to be the worst smell in the world, however nothing prepared me for the smell I was about to experience at the colony. On arriving at the colony it was evident that the pups born late November were all growing up and the beaches were lined with BRIGHT BLACK EYED little pups, but as I approached the human walkway, I was shocked and saddened to see the tragic reality of nature . . . and the smell was awful. From the information manual given to everyone visiting the seal reserve it states: "Human disturbances affects seals detrimentally, especially when the pups are small. Stampedes caused by such disturbances cause pups to be crushed by larger or other seals or die of starvation once the pups are separated from their mothers. The mortality rate of the pups is estimated at 27% due to premature birth, mothers being killed at sea while feeding, as well as attacks from the black-backed jackal and brown hyaena " That is all I had to know because as my eyes wondered over the marvel of the large seal colony, I cried and cried, because what is not shown in my video of the wonderful, vibrant, living and surfing seals, are the literally hundreds and hundreds of dead little pups lying in mounds, sand blowing over their little carcasses putting them to rest. Nature can be horribly cruel!! The area is a protected reserves and seals may not be humanly disturbed anymore. No clubbing is permitted and 'Green Peace' are watching this area with very watchful eyes. I apologies for the ordinary ipad version of the seals, but that is all I had handy to record my visit.