Some of Africa’s most fascinating big game animals are not patrolling the savannah, they are surfing the swells along the shores of Namibia. Ann and Steve Toon take a trip to Cape Cross and have all their senses confronted by the world of the Cape fur seal.
If you think a beach on a hot bank holiday is crowded – think again. The crush at Cape Cross on Namibia’s inhospitable Skeleton Coast is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Nothing can prepare you for it. Living cheek by flipper, tens of thousands of Cape fur seals cover this headland like a living jigsaw puzzle. This breeding colony is easily one of Africa’s largest, and considering its location, it’s also one of the most accessible. As far as wildlife experiences go, few attack as many senses as this sea of seals.
It’s an awesome and atmospheric spectacle as the damp morning fog lifts to reveal a bleak, but beautiful, promontory packed as far as the eye can see with seals. There are fat-bodied cows suckling coal-black pups, sleepy seals stretched over rocks they’ve polished through use and even a couple of battle-scarred bulls, with just enough energy left after breeding to square up for a fight. Along the water’s edge, hurrying seals awkwardly push their way to the liquid playground. In the shallows, crèches of pups splash about. And in deeper water you’ll see the glint of streamlined adult torsos surfing the swells.
Although you’d expect a symphony of sound from the powerful waves crashing hard against the jagged rocks, you don’t hear a murmur from the ocean. The airwaves are overwhelmed by the deafening, almost demented sounds of the colony: lost pups crying, concerned cows calling and huge bulls bellowing.
Then there’s the smell of the place – gut-wrenching. It’s so strong that you can almost taste it. The best way we’ve found to combat the stink is to rub a strong scent under our noses. It certainly allows you to hang around this special place that bit longer, revelling in the fascinating fur seal behaviour and all the varied interactions of life in this seal city.
Namibia’s formidable coastline provides beachside homes for around 23 Cape fur seal colonies like this one. The country has the world’s largest population of this species of seal, thanks to the cold Benguela current that bathes these shores and provides rich feeding grounds for them. Most of these colonies are pretty remote, but Cape Cross is just a couple of hours’ drive from the bizarrely Bavarian seaside resort of Swakopmund on the ‘salt road’ to the Skeleton Coast National Park.
The colony is always active, since many of the cows stay at Cape Cross year round. Come mid-October, they’re joined by the bulls which can take the seal population up to 100,000 – this is when things really kick-off. The bulls maintain harems of around five to 25 females and fiercely defend their territories and mating rights against marauding males.
All of the males’ posturing, mating and aggression take their toll. The massive bulls, weighing in at up to 360kg at the start of the breeding season, lose almost half their body weight in six weeks. Although the gestation period is eight months, the pups are born almost a year later due to an intriguing quirk in the cows reproductive process that sees them delay the implantation of the embryo by up to four months. Just a few days after the pups are born, the rut begins once more and the whole breeding cycle starts over again.
Witnessing the strong bond between mum and pup is one of the joys of visiting during this time. You’ll see the young, with their big button eyes, suckling from just a few metres away. Unfortunately, due to the high infant mortality rate, it can also be a hard time to visit. The crowded beaches and rough waters mean that injury and drowning are common. Starvation can also occur.
There are also outside threats to newborns. Soon after the pups are born the cows have to leave them behind to go fishing. It’s during these times that the pups are extremely vulnerable to attack from the black-backed jackals and brown hyenas that regularly patrol the colony looking for easy prey. Although you’d be extremely lucky to see a secretive, usually nocturnal, brown hyena, we’ve often observed jackals taking left or lost pups. However, many of the little seals do make it and after about a year they will be fully weaned. During the process, they’ll start to eat fish at four or five months, and by month seven or so they can live in the water for up to four days at a time.
Once in the water, their natural predator is the great white shark, who will be a threat throughout their lives. After maturing, the only species that is a real danger to them on shore is homo sapiens. Yes, Cape Cross is a wildlife destination where the harsh reality of man’s own predation on the seals is brought home to the visitor.
Close to the colony a small sealing museum is a stark reminder of the fact that, before tourism, the fur seals here were the centre of another industry, which exploited and harvested them for their meat, fur and oil. Even today seal harvesting continues in this country. Much to the outrage of conservation bodies and animal rights campaigners around the globe, Namibia still carries out an annual cull of Cape fur seal pups and bulls (South Africa stopped the practice in 1990). During the cull seals are killed at Cape Cross in the early hours of the morning before the reserve is opened to the public at 10am.
According to campaigners more than 85,000 seals were culled in Namibia last year and the government has green-lighted a further quota of 80,000 pups and 6000 bulls for slaughter during 2007’s 139-day cull. The authorities argue that the seals pose a serious threat to Namibia’s valuable fishing industry and that without the annual cull fish stocks would be severely depleted.
Protesters suggest the Namibian fishing industry has already brought about a reduction in seal numbers in recent years by doubling rather than decreasing its catch. They say this increase in production has led to seal pup mortality rising from around 25 per cent to 60 per cent.
Although seals do need to consume as much as eight per cent of their body weight each day, more than half of what they eat is said to be non-commercial fish. Campaigners and conservationists believe there are other economic reasons behind the continued cull, including the sale of pup fur and seal oil, which bring high prices, and the alleged sale of seal bull penises to Asian markets for use in aphrodisiacs.
Controversies aside, there is something that nobody can deny: visiting Cape Cross is one of Africa’s most unique wildlife experiences. With only a low stone wall to separate you from the action, you’ll be assaulted by the captivating sights, sounds and smells.
Now, if only the odours didn’t linger as long as the memories. |
