{"id":50334,"date":"2023-07-19T06:05:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T04:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/seal-gets-surgery-to-swim-again-20230718-2\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T22:11:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T20:11:45","slug":"seal-gets-surgery-to-swim-again-20230718-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/seal-gets-surgery-to-swim-again-20230718-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Seal gets surgery to swim again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As exciting as it is to see Cape fur seals visit our shores, they often find themselves caught up in discarded fishing line, bits of plastic box wrapping and all kinds of other floating debris and pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An influx of dead Cape fur seals has been reported to wash ashore on Bloubergstrand and Milnerton beaches, many with puncture wounds or wrapped in fishing line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest call for help came from the Kalk Bay Harbour when a tour guide called the Cape of Goodhope SPCA and reported seeing a young seal in distress \u2013 struggling to swim with some fishing line wrapped around one of his flippers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had no use of the entangled limb at all. Wildlife department supervisor Jon Friedman was dispatched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was expecting a routine disentanglement of fishing line, but when we got the young seal out of the water and started cutting away the mess of line wrapped around his left-side flipper, it was quickly apparent that the line wasn\u2019t only wrapped around the outside of the flipper but also deeply embedded inside the flipper as well, maybe anchored by a fishing hook to the bone, that I knew this wasn\u2019t going to be a straightforward rescue,\u201d Friedman says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rescue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bundling the young seal pup up in a blanket and a secure transport box, it was off to the SPCA Animal Hospital in Grassy Park for X-rays and possible surgery. On the theatre table, the attending veterinarians were puzzled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had expected to find a fishing hook or two embedded below the skin, but the X-rays showed no hooks, just lots of fishing line wrapped around the flipper (shoulder) joint,\u201d says the SPCA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What probably happened, the vets surmised, was that the seal became entangled some time ago, the fishing line cutting deeply through the skin at the shoulder, working its way down to the bone. With time, the wound grew closed again, trapping the fishing line in place, eventually seizing the joint and limiting the seal\u2019s movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe would\u2019ve certainly starved as he would not have been able to hunt properly,\u201d the SPCA says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After almost an hour, a total of a meter and a half of fishing line was carefully removed. The wound was thoroughly cleaned and the young seal was given a course of antibiotics, vitamins, probiotics, pain meds, good food and warm rest. A week later, having regained movement in the flipper, he was ready to go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respect wildlife<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Discarded fishing gear remains a significant threat to all marine life, not only in harbours but wherever recreational fishing takes place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SPCA urges all fishermen to enjoy their pastime responsibly and to take their discarded fishing tackle with them again when they go home or to dispose of it properly in bins, not throwing it in the sea where it could well become a life-threatening problem for a host of other marine wildlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n