Latest news with #seals
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Seal silly season: What you need to know as seal population bounces back
Seal at Bunnings Whangarei. Photo: DOC/Supplied Seal and sea lion populations are making a comeback around the country, with many returning to their historic home of New Zealand's mainlands. It's also seal silly season, meaning young pups are venturing off on their own for the very first time. They could show up on roads, be chilling in paddocks and even have a wander around Bunnings. But as seal silly season hits and the populations grow, so do our encounters. The Department of Conservation (DOC) and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency have now launched a nation-wide project to track the seals appearing near roads and are asking the public for help. "We're asking people to report sightings of seals, fur seals or sea lions on or near roads," marine senior technical advisor for the Department of Conservation Jody Weir said. "Your sightings-date, location, even a photo if it's safe- will help us map hotspots and understand the risks. It's a great example of how citizen science could make a real difference." Sightings reported to DOC before 22 June will help shape the initial national road risk model. Photo: DOC/Supplied The project aims to analyse the road-related risks for marine mammals like seals, and its findings will help with road planning and improvements, and help to find high-risk zones. "We're thrilled to see populations recovering, but that success comes with new challenges," Weir said. "We want to protect these taonga species while also keeping people safe. That means understanding where the key hot spots are and planning smarter." Kaikōura is a prime success story with key hot spots - where fur seals were getting onto SH1 - found, resulting in infrastructure upgrades to help protect the animals and drivers. The Department of Conservation (DOC) and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency have launched a nation-wide project to track the seals appearing near roads. Photo: DOC/Supplied "These young fur seals are out exploring their wider world while their mums are busy at sea getting food to be able to nurse that rapidly growing pup and grow the developing foetus inside her. "It's an important stage of development, but it also means they can end up in unusual-and sometimes risky-places. By reporting sightings, you're helping us look out for them during this vulnerable time," Weir said. Sightings reported to [seeaseal@ DOC] before 22 June will help shape the initial national road risk model. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The South African
28-05-2025
- General
- The South African
Elephant Seal's surprise visit to Gordon's Bay streets has a happy ending
It's not every day that a Southern elephant seal makes an appearance in a residential neighbourhood, but that's exactly what happened in Gordon's Bay when a sub-adult male was discovered lounging alongside Sir Lowry's Pass Road, nearly one kilometre inland. The call came in at 06:20 and by 07:00, the Cape of Good Hope SPCA had arrived to assess the situation. What followed was a nearly nine-hour rescue operation involving a well-coordinated effort across multiple agencies to ensure the sub-adult male's safety and eventual return to a more suitable coastal environment. Southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) are the world's largest seal species and are usually found in sub-Antarctic regions. While sightings in South Africa are rare, occasional lone individuals, typically young males, do haul out along our coastline during moulting or rest phases. But making it inland and into a neighbourhood is, by all accounts, highly unusual. 'Wild animals don't always follow the script, and this seal's unexpected journey into a residential area created real cause for concern,' said Belinda Abraham, Spokesperson for the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. 'With so many moving parts – traffic, onlookers, and a massive marine mammal in distress – it took rapid coordination and clear focus to keep everyone safe'. While the seal appeared to be unharmed, his urban detour posed risks – both to himself and to motorists. With the assistance of the Law Enforcement, Traffic Services, SAPS, Gordon's Bay Security and Gordon's Bay Medical Ambulance Services, the area was secured and traffic redirected while the SPCA, City of Cape Town's Coastal Management and Marine Unit, SANParks, Two Oceans Aquarium, Shark Spotters and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) stepped in. The SPCA monitored the seal's welfare throughout the incident, including during sedation by a wildlife veterinarian and the difficult process of loading the animal into the City's large game capture trailer. By late afternoon, the seal had been given the all clear by the veterinarian and safely transported to Koggel Bay, where his recovery from sedation was monitored before our team left the site. 'It truly takes a village says Abraham. We're incredibly grateful to everyone who stepped up today – for their professionalism, their compassion, and their quick response to an animal in distress.' Residents who encounter wildlife in urban spaces are reminded not to approach, feed, or attempt to assist the animals, but rather to contact the Cape of Good Hope SPCA for assistance. The number to dial is 0217004158/9, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Country diary: Pristine avocets under the cooling towers
Just across the bay there's a decommissioned North Sea oil platform, sawn off at the knees and propped up in the sprawling scrapyard of Able Seaton Port to decay in the sun and salt air. It looks like a mirage, a hallucination, crash-landed spaceship. This is Teesmouth. Between me and the platform, a work party of oystercatchers is busily processing the broad, dark sands of the bay. A dozen or so seals have hauled out a bit further along, and lie torpid in the hazy sunshine. In the north, we're used to wildlife thriving in post-industrial habitats – flooded gravel pits, old spoil tips, rewilded opencast workings. But this isn't post-industrial, it's (still somehow) industrial. I drove here slack-jawed, following straight roads through steaming cities of metal architecture, what we might call industrial gothic or robot baroque. Seal Sands is the name of both the bay and one of the vast chemical manufacturing clusters on the north bank of the Tees. For a while it was sort of a bad joke: between the 1930s and the 1960s, you were unlikely to see any sort of seal here. But the area was declared a site of special scientific interest in 1966, and they're back now, both grey and common seals. They don't seem to mind the oil platform or the chemicals works, or the shadows of Hartlepool power station. Not many people come here, and that's how they like it. Walk a couple of miles inland and at Saltholme Pools, near Stockton, you can watch the year's first avocet chicks picking their way on blue legs through the fertile mud, while their parents – pristine in black and white, only occasionally dropping the cool act to do a funny little hopping dance – sweep the waters with those remarkable retroussé bills. Look up and there in the near distance is the Middlesbrough transporter bridge, the tanks and towers of Navigator Terminals North Tees Ltd (a fuel storage hub), Whitetower Energy power station, all the titanic industrial clutter of the 20th-century Tees. Look back down and there's a lapwing chick paddling in the shallows. There are dunlins, little ringed plovers, black-tailed godwits in bright summer russet. These are not, for the most part, benevolent landscapes. But there's always hope (the thing with feathers). Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian's Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at and get a 15% discount
BBC News
26-05-2025
- BBC News
Killer whales spotted hunting Farne Islands grey seals
A family of killer whales has been seen hunting seals near the Farne pod of orcas were spotted on Sunday by passengers onboard a tourist boat travelling around the islands off the Northumberland Shiel, who runs the boat company, said he saw the orcas flip a seal out of the water and believes they were teaching their calves how to hunt."They were by the islands and they were feeding on the grey seals, which I guess is not a pretty sight," he said. "But the seals on the islands are at record numbers now and those are their predators. "I guess it's one way of controlling their numbers." Mr Shiel, 52, said he has worked on the boats since he was 16 but had only seen the orcas twice before and each sighting was in time there were between six and eight, including about four Shiel said a Tyneside family had joined them on the boat and told him they had recently booked a trip to Iceland to try and view orcas."They've looked for killer whales all their lives, so they were over the moon," he said. The Farne Islands are home to one of the biggest colonies of grey seals on the east coast of of grey seals live in the area and about 3,000 pups are born each Shiel said the strength of the seal colony might lead to more encounters with orcas in the future."I've got a feeling we might start to see this a little bit more often because they've probably got a taste for it and there's a good food source for them there," he said"I've got a sneaky feeling we'll start see them a little bit more regularly." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
I'm obsessed with protecting seals: ‘The flying ring toy was deeply embedded in her neck'
There was an incident seven years ago that changed my life. I saw an adult grey seal with a plastic pink flying ring toy so deeply embedded in her neck that she was practically dead. It was stopping her from feeding because it was digging into her and she couldn't extend her neck – the wounds were horrific. It broke my heart. From that moment on, I became obsessed with seals and protecting them from the dangers of plastic flying rings. I first encountered seals – and began to love them – when I became a volunteer for RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre 15 years ago. The centre is the main facility in Norfolk for the treatment, rehabilitation and care of wild seals, and works with the charity Friends of Horsey Seals (FoHS) and its dedicated rescue team along the east coast. As a result, I have unusually close contact with Britain's two protected species of seals: the grey seal and the harbour seal, feeding and helping to care for them and their pups. We called that seal Pinkafo. I discovered she wasn't the first seal that FoHS had rescued who had a flying ring around her neck – another, called Frisbee, had been saved the year before. That had been thought to be a freak occurrence, but when Pinkafo came in, we realised it wasn't. Since then, unfortunately, a lot of seals have been seen and photographed caught in flying rings along Britain's coastline. What seems to be happening is that these rings – costing as little as £1 – get lost or discarded on the beach then taken by the wind or tide into the sea. Young seals find them in the water and, being naturally curious, start to play – and that's when they put their head through the middle. They can't get the ring off and, as the seal gets bigger, the plastic digs deeper and deeper into its neck. Eventually, it dies from infection and starvation. Every time a seal was spotted stuck in a flying ring, I woke up at night feeling distressed. In 2019, with the support of FoHS, I launched a public awareness campaign about the dangers of flying rings to seals. We distributed leaflets and posters along the Norfolk coast from Great Yarmouth to King's Lynn. I also started touring the beaches with a lifesize sculpture of a grey seal with a ring embedded in her neck. In 2022, I sailed around Britain on my yacht for six months promoting my campaign at many of the ports and harbours I visited, and wrote a book, Sailing for Seals, about my journey. In 2023, I received a Points of Light award from the prime minister in recognition of my campaign to prevent needless suffering to seals. The UK Seal Alliance, which represents seal groups across the country, is now supporting my campaign and its vice-chair Gareth Richards recently launched a petition calling for a ban on the import and sale of flying rings to protect seals. We have also been going into the shops that sell the rings and asking them to stop, and some of the big chains such as Sainsbury's, Halfords, Tesco and the Entertainer have now pledged to swap to solid discs. But many retailers have refused to engage and thousands of rings continue to be sold across the country. The good news is, Pinkafo and Frisbee managed to survive and, we think, give birth after the rings were removed and they were released back into the sea. But each time a seal is rescued and rehabilitated in this way, it costs charities such as the RSPCA an estimated £10,000 to £15,000. We are launching a national campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of flying rings on 26 May, so that everyone can learn how to protect seals by swapping flying rings for seal-safe solid flying discs this summer, preferably non-plastic ones. Everyone can help our seals by making such a simple switch. Jennifer Hobson is a seal welfare campaigner and the author of Sailing for Seals. As told to Donna Ferguson
