MONDAY August 7 was a busy day for nature conservation efforts in Kenton-on-Sea, with volunteers working hard to rescue an injured Cape fur seal and stranded African penguin.
The previous day, local resident John Smith had reported to the Wildlife Protection Hotline provided by Hi Tec Security that a seal with one injured flipper had beached itself on Middle Beach. Hi Tec phoned the follow-up person, Glenda Webster.
She in turn phoned Verona Veltman, who asked her to take a photo for Bayworld, investigate the injuries and to report back to her.
Down at the beach, Hi Tec’s manager and control room manager, Jan Nel and Chris Barnard, had already arrived to investigate. They reported to Veltman that each time a dog or person approached the seal it struggled back into the sea and then had to struggle back onto the beach against the outgoing tide. It was getting more and more exhausted.
Veltman asked Hi Tec to keep people and dogs at least 5-10m away from the seal until further instructions came from Bayworld. She arrived with a board saying “Seal Resting” to plant in the sand near the seal.
[pullquote]Each time a dog or person approached the seal it struggled back into the sea and then had to struggle back onto the beach against the outgoing tide[/pullquote]
For the rest of the day Veltman and Webster stayed close to keep dogs and curious bystanders away as Bayworld workers were unable to come from Port Elizabeth that day. The two women were assisted by many sympathetic bystanders.
Bayworld informed them that if the seal was still there in the morning, they would fetch it for rehabilitation and release, or to be euthanised, whatever was best for the seal. Webster stayed on until dark and when she left, the seal was resting peacefully on the sand.
After volunteers had done their respective wildlife protection game drives as a deterrent to poachers, Webster took her turn at 1am. The seal was still there, lying very still.
“At sunrise when the beach walkers arrived, the seal had scrambled into the water a number of times. Some dog walkers refuse to even carry leads for their dogs,” Webster said.
She and others kept up a vigil to protect the seal until Veltman arrived. Responding to another call, Veltman and another local, Chris Barnard, had by “incubation” rehydrated a little ”blue” African penguin found stranded on the beach at Kenton Eco Estate. Veltman had the baby penguin ensconced safely in a large box on a towel in her car where it dozed contentedly.
After lunch Dr Greg Hofmeyr, the curator of Marine Mammals Bayworld, and his assistant Mthoko Nsele arrived. By now the seal had beached himself on a convenient stretch of beach sand, fairly clear of the water. It gave Hofmeyr the opportunity to crawl up to the seal on his belly, bearing a net.
“For a few anxious moments the group of sympathetic bystanders waited with bated breath to see if the seal would take fright and plunge back into the water,” Webster said. “Hofmeyr is clearly adept at this kind of rescue. He managed to creep close enough to net the seal.”
With Nsele’s help he put the injured creature into a large cage in the back of the Bayworld van and headed to Port Elizabeth.
“The prognosis from Bayworld’s vet was that the seal had no broken bones but one of the wounds on his flipper was deep. Antibiotics and pain medication were provided, plus rehydration,” Webster said.
He survived a week, but then died, possibly due to septicaemia.
Antibiotics were also given to the penguin, which was well on the road to recovery with further rehabilitation at Sanccob in Port Elizabeth.
The public is asked to report all stranded penguins to the Wildlife Protection Hotline on (046) 648-3816, Lana 083-267-5198 or Verona 083-654-9976, or the Bayworld Strandings Hotline 071-724-2122. Seals are left alone unless they are injured.
Anyone who wants to help with the protection and conservation of wildlife in the Kenton area can give their details to (046) 648-3816 or send an sms to Glenda on 082-664-8471.
