A harassed and injured Cape fur seal nicknamed “Blue” has recently been rehabilitated and returned to the ocean by the SPCA.
Blue outside her transport container. Picture: SPCA
Last week, TygerBurger reported on a sick and injured seal stranded on Bloubergstrand after beachgoers and their dogs harassed the animal last Friday evening.
The call for help was answered by SPCA Chief inspector Jaco Pieterse who cancelled his dinner plans to attend to the emergency.
‘Assessing the seal to be underweight and with a nasty gash to its right elbow (likely to be an injury from an embedded fishing hook), he set to work loading the 80 kg-plus seal into a purpose-designed box for transport to the SPCA Animal Hospital for emergency care,’ says the SPCA.
Over the following days of rescue, Blue was supplied with a protein-focused diet and given enough time to rest and recuperate with her wound cleaned twice daily. This was not an easy task as the seal was already wary of human interaction and due to her huge size dealing with her became a complicated task, she eventually calmed down and became easier to treat after sensing that the SPCA healthcare providers were only trying to help.
After five days, she was beginning to miss home and gazed towards the ocean from her enclosure which made the workers aware that ‘it was her time to go home, as seals will get depressed if kept from their colony for too long.’
Getting a large and tired seal into a transport container is not an easy task, the SPCA says – ‘they will fight to their last against anything that might threaten their freedom. This task takes six or seven strong men and women with a lot of patience and understanding of seal behaviour to get the job done.’ After about 40 minutes of gentle coaxing, pleading and tempting with fish, Blue was safely in the transport box and on her way home.
‘The Wildlife team chose an especially secluded beach not too far from where she was found, where some shallow rock pools would give her just the right amount of cover and confidence to head out into deeper waters when she was ready.’
The door to her container was then opened and a gust of sea breeze blew right up against us, with no time to spare, Blue hauled her frame out and onto the beach where she spent a few minutes taking in the fresh air and indulging in her freedom before taking to the water.
For the SPCA wildlife team that was responsible for her capture and care, her return and release, these are the moments that make it all worthwhile.
‘The Cape of Good Hope SPCA wildlife department responds to an average of 75 seal-related calls a year throughout the year. Most of the calls we respond to are regarding entangled seals, sick seals or seals being harassed on public beaches while trying to rest up after a long swim.’
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