AFTER a 10 month adventurous trip to Antarctica, Selso, a southern elephant seal, has returned to South Africa. The adolescent seal was spotted lounging on the shores of the Cape Recife Nature Reserve on 15 November, where he had begun his annual moult.
In June last year, a 22-month old Selso was found washed up at the Southbroom Beach in Hibiscus Coast, extremely exhausted, starved and underweight. At that time he weighed 73kg, less than half of what a healthy seal his age should weigh. He was taken to uShaka Marine World, where he was rehabilitated.
Seven months later the hard work and dedication of the uShaka staff finally paid off when Selso was successfully released into the wild on 12 January. However, before his release, the brave pup was fitted with a satellite tracking device, which would record his movements. This has provided researchers with invaluable insight into the lives of Selso and his species.
Upon his return researchers noted that he was in excellent general health, but raised some concern, as he still remained slightly underweight. He was subsequently captured and taken to Bayworld Oceanarium in Port Elizabeth where he will be under the care the Bayworld team.
Ann Kuntz, uShaka spokesperson, said that they were both surprised and excited that Selso had returned. “We have no scientific explanation for his return. It is like he returned just in time for us to replace the tracker. We never thought that we would have an opportunity to collect more data. We knew that the tracker would safely fall off when he moulted,” said Kuntz.
Southern elephant seals normally inhabit the Southern Ocean, where there is an optimum supply of their main diet (squid), and are therefore rarely spotted on the South African shores. According to Kuntz, Selso’s tracker indicated that he had been drifting about the continental shelf (an underwater landmass, which extends from a continent) before coming ashore. “It could explain why he is slightly underweight. The abundance of his food supply is further south. Here he has been forced to work harder for food,” she explained.
Selso is one of five southern elephant seals known to have come ashore on the South African coastline in the past 20 years. Seals generally haul out onto land before they begin moulting and then re-enter the water after they have completed their moult.
The two-year-old seal will remain at Bayworld for the next three weeks, where staff will be working tirelessly to help Selso regain some healthy weight. After he has completed his moult the researchers will re-attach the tracker so that they can continue gathering invaluable data, and he will be released once again. Fur samples will also be collected, which will provide scientists with valuable insights into the feeding habits of the southern elephant seals.
