South Africa · 2026
Cape fur seal
Seals around South Africa.
Follow public seal observations from South Africa. Browse published records, explore the places and stories behind them, or share an encounter with the Seal Watch team.
- Total reports
- 5
- Latest observation
Public reports · newest first
Public records archive
9 January—17 August
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5 of 5 reports
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All areasMarkers represent broad named areas, never exact observation locations. Select an area to filter the archive.
Map: Natural Earth.
Reports over time
Select a year, then a month. Counts describe published reports; one animal may appear in several reports.
Grouped by each record’s archive date. Approximate dates keep their original labels in the records below.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation / Marine Wildlife Management Programme
Observation: Responders located four Cape fur seals together in a dry-dock tunnel. The same group had been reported earlier in August; subsequent rescue stages are part of this encounter.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Two Oceans Aquarium / Marine Wildlife Management Programme
Observation: The aquarium team responded to a juvenile male Cape fur seal resting on a platform with a severe neck entanglement.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Chelsea Pieterse, Mossel Bay Advertiser; SMART
Observation: Harbour security alerted SMART to an undernourished Cape fur seal yearling. It was captured for care and died the following day; test results were still pending in the report.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Chelsea Pieterse, Mossel Bay Advertiser; SMART
Observation: SMART captured a seal at The Point. A later report identified this as the Mossel Bay animal that tested positive for rabies and avian influenza.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Gabriélla Siebritz, Mossel Bay Advertiser; SMART
Observation: An adult seal was observed alive on the riverbank in the morning. SMART monitored it before it was euthanised later that day; the source reported a subsequent positive rabies test.