Happy ending for Umdloti seal!

The seal that came ashore on Umdloti Beach last week has successful been released back into the wild.

Sammy, as he was named by Umdloti locals, is a healthy male sub antarctic fur seal and is approximately four years old. He came ashore on Thursday, September 4 and spent the night on the beach resting.

Marine World rescuers took Sammy to Impengati Nature Reserve to return him to the water. He headed for the ocean almost immediately after the door of his relocation crate opened.

uShaka Marine World’s Ann Kunz said although it is unusual for a Sub Antarctic Fur Seal to come to rest on a beach in KZN, it is not unnatural.

“Unlike the Southern Elephant Seals who only come ashore once a year at breeding and moulting time, sub antarctic fur seals frequently come ashore to rest.”

Kunz said KZN is not the sub antarctic fur seal’s natural feeding ground but this adventurous seal has for some reason travelled beyond its natural boundaries.

“But it only takes them a week or so to get back to the continental shelf heading south.”

If a seal beaches on a KZN beach and is injured, uShaka Marine World will treat the seal in their rehabilitation centre before releasing it.

She said since January this year, four seals have been fitted with a satellite tracker prior to being released post recovery. Gru, Minion and Timone are all sub antarctic seals and Selso is a southern elephant seal.

Kunz and the staff at uShaka Marine World wish young Sammy well.

Thankfully this seal had a happier fate then the Cape Fur seal that washed up dead on Salmon Bay Beach two weeks ago.