Thousands of seal pups, if not more, have died. A tragedy has happened right in front of our eyes. We dedicate all our energy, time and resources to protect and save as many seals as possible, but there was nothing anybody could have done to stop this seal die off.

It started about a month ago, when more and more premature and underdeveloped seal pups were born, without any chance to survive in the wild. Every day, we saw more and more aborted foetuses. On a 100m beach stretch, we could easily count up to 150 dead seal pups.

Why is this happening?

This question will keep scientists busy for many years. It is not the first time Namibia's seals have experienced a mass die off. In 1994 and 1995, several factors including starvation, bacterial infection and low oxygen in the water due to algae bloom lead to the loss of 1/3 of our seal population. There could be similar factors at play this year. Together with The Namibian Dolphin Project and veterinarians Dr Brett Gardner and Dr Renscha Beeker, we have worked hard to collect samples and get the most important lab tests done as quick as possible. A fundraiser to cover the expenses was launched, and we are grateful to report that we have reached 100% of needed funds. 

We do not know if the lab results will bring the answer. We are currently experiencing the La Nina weather pattern which could have had a massive impact on our ocean and available fish stocks. Other currently unknown factors could also have contributed.  

Collecting data is all we can do at the moment. Mike from Scenic Air in Namibia was so kind and generous to take Naude on his 2-seater plane to do an aerial survey of the  beaches South of Pelican Point. The area is not easily accessible by vehicle and it was important to record the numbers of dead seals at its worst. Generally speaking, the seal die off is more severe towards the South of Pelican Point than the North. We might have passed the peak of this tragedy, most dead seals appear to have died more than a week ago. 

This seal die off is so unusual that the whole world has shown interest. This morning, Naude has been featured on BBC, this is the link. 

The Good News

We have also seen the first fully developed seal pups that might be able to make it, if the mothers manage to find enough food to nurse their babies. Our brand new drone arrived from Germany, and we will use it to do regular surveys at Pelican Point to assess the situation. Hopefully we will count many, many fat and healthy baby seals. 

Seal Disentanglements 

Over the past two weeks, we disentangled about 15 seals. It is an exceptionally low number for us, but our seals were very nervous because of the unusual amount of dead seals and mourning mothers around them. We decided to not stress them out and rather prioritise the seal die off. We will resume seal rescues after this weekend. Our new black net has made it through customs, and it has been fitted with a lighter handle than the old orange net. The orange net can retire now, we will keep it for our first exhibition one day.   

We love the new net. It will save many seal lives, and each seal matters, more than ever.

Thank you very much for supporting us!

Katja & Naude & The OCN Team