Photo:TWD
Over 7,000 dead seal pups found washed up on Namibian beach in mysterious massacre
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | OCTOBER 24th 2020
Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) stated on Friday that the number of the 5,000 dead seal pups, all supposedly aborted and found washed up on the Namibian beach had risen severely, bringing their toll up to over 7,000 dead.
The phenomenon was first reported in mid-October, and the initial cause was identified as a case of seal pups being born prematurely and thus being subjected to near immediate death. A phenomenon occurring in the thousands according to a marine biologist with OCN, Naude Dreyer.
“It is a natural phenomenon, meaning that when the pregnant female feels she does not have enough reserves, she can abort her fetus,” said Dreyer. “A few premature deaths is a natural event, but thousands of premature dead pups is extremely rare.”
The cause of the mass abortion situation is still largely unclear, but Dreyer has voiced his suspicions that this may be a cause of toxins and pollutants in the water, as well as starvation caused by unnatural fish migrations which may have been triggered by either changing water temperatures or overfishing. When fish move away from the seal’s usual hunting grounds, it becomes more difficult for them to feed.
“The seals look a bit thin and it could likely be caused by a lack of food. Other seal colonies at other beaches look much better and they do not record the same amount of premature pups,” Dreyer added.
Graca Dalmeida, director of resource management at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, who are investigating the deaths, said that “We are gathering data for analysis to determine the causes of the abortions. The tests are specialized tests which are not done in Namibia. We will have to send the samples to South Africa.”
The seals in question are called Cape Fur Seals, which have often been dubbed the ‘dogs of the sea’ due in large part to their extremely playful and fun nature. The case is being marked a tragedy, especially since the addition of 2,000 more pups to the previously recorded 5,000 dead. The number, passing 7,000 deaths, covers a rather high number of the births that had been expected for late November time.
The Cape Fur Seals are known for primarily breeding and residing around South Africa and Namibia waters, sometimes all the way down to Angola along the coastlines. This time of year is when they carry their children, with the birth season steadily approaching.
“Normally cape fur seals would give birth from mid-November until early December,” said Dr Tess Gridley from OCN. “That’s the height of pupping that we would normally expect but what has been happening this year is there has been an increase in abortions that was first seen starting in August and really sort of peaked just last week in October.”
