From: SEAL ALERT-SA
Date: May 6, 2007
Dear All Cape Fur Seal Supporters,
Over the years both you and I have funded various pieces of
equipment for the seals, over the coming weeks as each part
is complete in a total overall Seal Alert-SA is presently
conducting, I will be bringing you a detailed account of
why each piece of equipment is neccessary, unique to Seal
Alert-SA and vital for the seals.
In the first step, is colour. I
have found seals distinguish colour and develop familarity
with the shape of the object, and often get confused if a
similar coloured boat or rubber-duck approaches them
(thankfully most pleasure boats are white). Disentangling
them or approaching them, I have found grey to be the an
exceptable colour, but with the boats and rafts, it stains
easily from their excretment. So our revamp for 2007, will
involve all equipment being painted black. Heat in summer
might be a problem, and slowly I will look at camoflague
(for our next revamp) and whether it aids in working
amongst them in the wild.
As you know seals are banned from all large islands off
South Africa (their preferred and endemic breeding
habitat). They are restricted to breeding and living on
small awash rocks less than 2 ha. Of the 1000 ha of
protected offshore island land, seals can only haul-out or
bred on 10 ha or 1%. Being the Cape of Storms, haul-out for
a number of reasons on the coastline, least of all the
disturbance by man, has left these wild seals with little
options when sick, with regard to suitable habitat. Fishery
and Conservation officials in their naive wisdom believe
that no longer can seals and seabirds share the islands,
and as such have declared 99% of the islands, exclusive
seabird sanctuaries.
In the natural order of things,
weak and injured seals would congregate on a specific
island, dubbed the seal hospital, and attempt their own
recovery.
So what happens to an injured or
sick seal on an awash rock overcrowded colony? As a natural
behaviour, when seals become injured or sick, their
response as they decline in health, is to break away from
one of the nine colonies, become loners and forage alone.
As they chill and get cold, and weak, they seek out safe
habitat to attempt to regain strength and recover on a
daily basis, away from the hussle and buzzle of a healthy
active colony, mostly at night. Many haul-out on beaches,
only be to continously disturbed and infected with a range
of land-based diseases and bacteria. Predominately whatever
their injury or sickness, these will cause the seals to
forage more and more unsuccessfully (particularly as
overfishing and collapsed fisheries increases), and with
which they slowly starve to death. As a secondary defence
mechanism, seals injured behave far more nervously, as they
know they are vulnerable, to which repeated harassment
causes stress, which leads to further immune system
breakdowns, sickness, convulsions and death, as they
approach closer to the coastline and man more frequently.
Most seal rescue approaches is to
remove the stranded marine mammal (seal) away from its
watery habitat, which is like taking a dying dog and
throwing him into the sea to treat him. Seals should be
kept in their natural habitat, which is primarily first,
the sea. The myth that seals must be handled to treat them,
remains just that a myth.
A floating offshore platform
therefore becomes essential to not only providing a safe
and secure area to recover, but assists in identifying the
ones needing help (instead of continous swimming in an
endless sea), and most importantly it allows me the
oppurtunity to approach each wild seal to facilitate
disentanglement or treatment. Upon this facility, the need
to therefore capture, restrain or confine, becomes
obselete. This becomes their natural floating, home away
from home, with all the familar sounds and smells they are
relaxed with. Instantly, I am accepted into the Seal-Family
as one of the pack, this is aided by the accepting
behaviour of the older seals in the group who have
developed a trust with me. Much of this acceptance, is
based on smell, and soon my unique scent, is accepted and
easily distinguishable from other humans. With the
surrounding water providing a natural barrier between
harassing members of the public and these dying seals.
Over 500 000 seals in the last 30 years have
disappeared without trace. Killed, drowned or have sunk to
the bottom. Along the South African coastline, daily over
100 seals are in the throngs of non-survival and dying,
with 100 new victims being added every day. Placing such a
facility acts as a natural magnet, for almost daily at
least one new victim to find safe sanctuary - and get the
help they deserve, as we are ultimately the cause.
Floating offshore structures come
at a premium, and increase as the length increases. For
example, a 24ft catamaran ski-boat (as we have above) can
be purchased for R50 000, 26-ft R110 000, 30ft R350 000,
36ft R450 000 and 40ft and above over R1 million. Ideally
what Seal Alert-SA needs to conduct its 1-3 seal rescues a
day (1000 a year) and continue with their 3 - 12 months of
rehab, is a 40ft (live-abroad) catamaran, but at over R1
million, a sum in funding Seal Alert-SA has never come
close to, as such, we have had to make the most of the
smallest entry-level craft possibly suitable for the task
at hand. Ideally as well, I would like to remain stationary
at night (for the weak seals to locate) and then at
day-time motor out to the various seal colonies (weather
and sea-state permitting), with the 1-50 recovering seals
on-board, administering their treatments and fed, as we go
- as this is where the seals need the most help.
One needs to fully understand the context of our work,
besides the 90 000 seals being clubbed in Namibia and the
resultant fleeing of weanlings, thousands are drowned in
trawl nets and shot, this is besides all the other needs of
seal rescue. Found over 3000 km of coastline, dispersed
amongst 9 main colonies, there is not a single organization
dedicated, equipped or able to address the needs of these
thousands of seals, each and every year needing help. Seal
Alert-SA's one-man operation is all there is between life,
suffering and death along this entire coastline, although
based in Hout Bay. For hundreds of years, and most recently
in decades, these injured seals, involving tens of
thousands yearly, had no hope of assistance - until now.
Seal Alert-SA strongly believes South African's should be
ashamed of their ignorance and disregard for the welfare of
this species. In comparison, companion animals (dogs and
cats), most of which are not endemic, natural or protected
or endangered, have over 100 SPCA's caring for their needs
as well as numerous other, well funded domestic rescue or
shelter organizations in South Africa alone. Bearing in
mind that most members of the public would respond equally
and instantly to helping an injured dog or cat, and
ensuring that it receives treatment at a vet, whereas seals
have nothing. Likewise there are thousands of private vets
geared for helping companion animals.
Costs of medically assisting a dog
or cat, a few hundred rand, whereas seals cost thousands.
Last pupping season, you and in particular Beauty Without
Cruelty's Chairperson Beryl Scott made funding available
for the catamaran above, and we quickly converted it for a
baby pup rehab facility, with internal splash pool, ramp
and inside cabin for safety. It worked very well ( and I
still believe that this is the future way to go, but the
boat must be bigger and the cost of acquiring at R1 million
prohibative). The downfall came, that ski-boats are not
designed to stay afloat all year round and are weight
specified, 50 large bulls weighing collectively over 10
tons, played havoc with keeping the boat afloat that is
designed for a maximum of 6 crew, eventually causing it to
submerge. Even a fence around the boat to protect the
babies, was quickly demolished.
So thanks to an
unanoumous supporter and Seashepherd (www.seashepherd.org), we have
removed the engines and internal fuel tanks, all holes
were plugged and a new deck laid, underneath hundreds of
floatation bottles were installed, and the deck sealed.
Then another splash-deck was built, as 50 seals eating
150kg's a day, urinate and excrete large volumes, and as
hygiene in rescue, together with a one-man operation,
design must be such that cleaning is made easy - like it
works on the islands.
The catamaran with the
two rafts alongside, will give me a working platform of
30sqm, and based on offshore densities, this area can
therefore accomodate over 100 seals. In the coming weeks
the boat will be tested for its floatation ability, prior
to introducing the three babies, as it would be a disaster
if the boats sinks when they are released to take up
residency on it for their stage 2 part of their rehab.
I have found floating
facilities like this are far better for seal rehab, than
any seal centre. As far as I am aware Seal Alert-SA is the
only seal rescue organization in the world to be in
development with this type of out-the-box thinking. Where
instead of building aquatic environments for containing the
seals, the natural sea with all its effective rehab
properties is used, and instead the design is towards a
haul-out/working platform. To illustrate further,
although this boat at 8m is entry-level, its ability with
the two rafts is such that it can assist 1-100 recovering
seals, in comparison our existing two pool seal centre,
would need to be expanded 12 times to accomodate this
number internally and instead of the 30sqm boat space, a
pool area combined of over 625sqm or 25 pools would be
required, with all the neccessary filter and filtration
pumps, cleaning, maintaince and hygiene, and labour
neccessary in keeping such a large facility. Making my
existing one-man operation impossible, with labour costs of
keeping said facility clean, running into hundreds of
thousands.
Present downfall of said platform,
is its small size, non-moveability in journeying out to sea
and the fact that all feed and medication needs to be swum
to the facility, with no overnight or adverse weather
protection. Difficult when some rehab periods require 4
hourly treatments/feeds for weeks on end.(Hence why a 40ft
live-abroad would be most suitable).
Besides all the above, most seal
centre's experience a loss of 50% mortality, much of this
due to the stress of confinement of these wild marine
mammals. Many seals need to be drugged in order to treat
them. Having rescued seals wild and free, allows for a far
more conducive healing process in most circumstances.
Finally existing legislation deems it a criminal offence to
disturb or harass a seal, but is useless when seals
haul-out on public spaces (the dying ones), and therefore
the catamaran/rafts serve as added protection, as these
seals are now on private property, with prevents both the
public and government officials doing as they please,
without my consent.
I hope therefore that you are
pleased that your funds have been well spent. All
construction work was done by myself and one paid worker.
In the coming weeks, the
jetski re-launch, the seal centre, the rafts, the three
pioneering baby seals, How Seal Alert-SA continues
financially, our dive/camera gear and our launch vehicles..
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
* . * . * . *
From:
Seal alert-SA
Subject: Thank You, for making a Cape Fur Seal - Difference
Date: May 2, 2007
Dear
All Cape Fur Seal Supporters,
Thank
You, for making a Cape Fur Seal -
Difference
As many of you
know I started rescuing and protecting seals in Hout Bay,
its commercial fishing harbour (the second largest by
volume in South Africa) in 1999. Over the years I have
endured with these wonderful, intelligent and amazing seals
some terrific sadistic cruelty, pain and death. Each in the
main, caused by fishermen. In each of the seals sad
passing, their loss of life, gave me renewed energy and
strength to save and protect the still alive ones. Just
outside Hout Bay is a small seal colony on a small awash
rock. Many who see this offshore colony for the first time,
see thousands of seals, and yet few realise, that a number
equal to the entire colony, I have saved, helped or rescued
over the years, single handled - with your support. I have
experienced terrible pain, seals with their faces shot-off,
stoned to death, skulls clubbed in, entangled so badly
their necks bleed continuously, drowned in trawl nets, jaws
completely broken. In fact, I believe that it is doubtful
that there is not an injury to seals caused by man-kind
that I have not personally witnessed.
Lately media and
others, have moved the issues from individual species to
global issues, like global warming, mass overfishing,
species extinction in mass. A real doomsday scenario. Even
our own fisheries Minister is now talking complete
collapsed fisheries within three decades. Throughout all
this, I have remained single-minded, and completely focused
on these Cape fur seals. Yet, in context, my work seems
pointless, considering the pending global doomsday
scenario.
Well, I am here to tell
you, that after feeding the babies their lunch time feed, I
prepared my 5kg of defrosted pilchards and headed down
along the pier towards the other seals undergoing various
stages of in-the-wild rehabilitation. Like some of the 65
weanlings that remain after fleeing the Namibian clubbers,
or some entangled ones, Mumkin the baby pup from last years
awash rock breeding season, an old bull and some others. As
is customary I took along my seal disentangling
sickle/knife.
And, there I stood on the
pier. 60 defrosted pilchards ready to be feed to eagerly
awaiting seal mouths and Mumkin's liquidised feed. Not a
single seal in sight. None on the rafts, pier, rocks or
even swimming around the harbour. This has never ever
happened before. There are always a seal needing help or
grateful for a helping mouthful, even coming down at 2am in
the middle of the pitch black night, finds a group of seals
eagerly awaiting. On noticing this, it dawned on me
something else, that although there is not a black and
white evidence that attitudes, particularly amongst
fishermen has changed towards seals, the horrific injuries
and cruelty has diminished as well over the years. More and
more seldom, I am coming across a severely injured or
abused seal ( in the Hout Bay area).
Even now I operate from a rental
free Seal Centre, whose building belongs to Oceana, one of
the largest fishing companies in South Africa and where De
Beers, the largest diamond producer in the world, and where
upon over 70% of the seal population is now situated (and
where they are still being clubbed) on their diamond
restricted mining land, is engaged with Seal
Alert/Seashepherd in what it considers that we are key
stake-holders in their future strategic planning.
So I am here to tell you, there is
hope, and change, no matter how small, does come for the
better. No doubt very soon, I will be faced with massive
cruelty, injury and rescue, but at least, there is tangible
evidence, not by me, but as shown by the seals themselves,
that our funding, support and efforts are having an effect
on the minute by minute, day to day lives of the seals.
Seals out the harbour, means they are surviving, wild and
free, as nature intended. We are getting there, one seal at
a time.
So thank you, to each and every one of
you, for what you have done to date, and over the years.
I have some very good news coming from
Paul Watson and Seashepherd soon, as well as the jetski,
catamaran, centre and rafts. Pics should start following
shortly as each equipment part is placed into operation.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
