Bones - will he
ever stop saying thanks
by Francois Hugo - Seal Alert-SA
From: SealAlertSA
Subject: Bones - Is this not
special or what ?
Date: August 17, 2006
Bones -
will he ever stop saying thanks
Eight years ago shortly after
acquiring our 60ft - 60 ton Norwegian fishing vessel to
convert into a live-a-abroad for my wife Nelda and I, and
our planned cruise around the world. We came across the
terrible plight of these Cape fur seals. They changed
forever, our path in life. 'Sweety' became our first
rescued seal, but not long after in mid August another seal
arrived.
I first spotted him coming down the
harbour channel in August 1999, in rolling flipper over
flipper swim patterns, that has now become a distinctive
sign of a seal very weak. Without any encouragement
whatsoever, this pathetic, of a once amazing robust and
healthy living seal - hauled his broken and tired body
abroad our raft tied alongside our boat, and lay down to
die.
I feed, nurtured and encouraged him
to live - and after many, many months - he did. Once a
skeleton of skin and bones, hence his name - 'Bones'
blossomed into a thoroughbred of a bull seal, shining pitch
black in colour - eyes full of life once again. After a
time during his rehabilitation he moved permanently
off the raft, and took upon station alongside, doing
repeated head over hind flipper circles, constantly -
in the dirty polluted harbour water. Each time his head
swung around, he would try and attract my attention and
make eye to eye contact - through the slime, oil and
surface muck. I was initially very concerned with this
unusual swim pattern - as I was afraid he might drive
himself completely mad.
After some months, 'Bones' simply
vanished into the deep blue yonder. My second only seal
rescued had disappeared for good.
The following August 'Bones' was back -
and how I distinguished him from all the others of hundreds
of seals since rescued, was his repeated head over flipper
turns desperate to attract my attention once
again. 'Bones' would stay a few weeks, which involved
at least twice a day making sure "we connected"
before heading out the harbour in his daily routine.
No matter where I moved within the harbour,
and I have been forced to re-locate to several different
locations around the harbour - 'Bones' would somehow find
me each mid-August.
Stay for a few short weeks and then disappear.
Where or how far I will never know, but what I did know
somewhere deep in the back of 'Bones' mind he would always
be thinking of me - somewhere out there.
It is now the eighth year since 'Bones' rescue
- and sure enough, on my way to feed 'Mumkin' this
morning I spotted this seal, alongside a jetty I
seldom use - doing those distinctive head over flipper
turns - and once again for the 8th year in a row we
connected as two species should.
With the average lifespan of a seal in the
wild of just thirteen years, 'Bones' must be getting quite
old. He is one of over five thousand reasons why I have
never left this 'Seal Hating' fishing harbour even for a
day.
I will always wonder when 'Bones' will
ever stop saying thanks - and I hope he never does.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seals
Seal Alert-SA
