Ocean plastic pollution comes in every shape, size and colour. On this day at Pelican Point, the Ocean Conservation Namibia team caught 2 seals at the same time - both with clear plastic clingwrap around their necks. The first pup was caught by hand, by Naude and cut free by Francois. At the same time, Denzil caught another young Cape Fur Seal in the background using their specially built rescue net. The origin of this plastic is not clear. It could be wrapping from water bottle packages, or even wrapping around palleted items. Whatever it is, it does not belong around the necks of innocent ocean dwelling animals. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

Naude, Denzil and Francois from Ocean Conservation Namibia were doing a patrol on kayak when they came across this poor seal pup by chance. Naude spotted a seal pup on the beach with a scar around his neck, unsure if it was and entanglement or not. Francois also spotted a pup covered in fishing line, so they decided to check the seals out. Naude ran up to his and although it had a bad cut, it was one of their former rescues, and the scar was healing up really well. At the same time Francois was busy restraining a bigger pup covered in thick fishing line. While running up to help Francois, Naude saw a youngster moving very strangely. As he got closer he saw that the pup was missing one of his front flippers! There was some scar tissue, so it was definitely not a birth defect. It could have been lost due to an entanglement, or possible bitten off by a shark or even a bigger seal. The team have never seen something like this before. The pup can run relatively well, and appeared to swim okay too. Only time will tell if he will be able to swim fast enough to hunt. As Francois and Naude finished up the seal with the fishing line, Denzil came in from behind ushering another small pup with a rubber gasket around his neck. They quickly cut him free too and returned to their kayaks to finish their patrol. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

Another milestone for Ocean Conservation Namibia: Denzil and Naude did a morning trip to the Cape Cross seal colony, after Katja and Naude had seen many entangled animals there over the weekend before. Denzil and Naude immediately got into rescues, and the third animal for the day was officially the 500th rescue for the year! This is a phenomenal number they could have never expected to reach. At the start of the year they were hoping to make 200 rescues for the year. Unfortunately this milestone is bittersweet, as it just highlights that the problem of marine debris affecting sea life is much bigger than OCN could have imagined. Ocean Conservation Namibia is a non-profit organization that is purely run on charitable donations. All the support from all over the world has been overwhelming, and OCN and team cannot thank each and every one who has contributed to this cause. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

This seal rescue took place at Cape Cross, Namibia. Cape Cross is one of the worlds largest seal colonies, and can hold up to 400 000 Cape Fur Seals at the height of breeding season in December. The plan was not actually to rescue seals on this day, but rather to just observe. This however changed when Naude and Katja noticed many entangled animals, and decided to help one that was close to the walkway leading through the colony. Naude jumped over the fence and easily managed to restrain the young male. This poor animal had multiple loops of thin fishing line cutting into his skin around his neck, and also through his mouth. It took a little while, but Naude managed to cut all the lines and let the animal go again. Contrary to how the seals behave at Pelican Point, this group are quite calm, and some even walked closer while Naude was busy cutting the pup free. Once the pup ran off, he didn't go straight for the ocean like at Pelican Point, but rather ran up to some of his friends and just stood around, as if nothing had ever happened. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

Join Naude and Denzil as they do their seal patrol from kayaks at Pelican Point. They are actually both kayaking guides, and perfectly at home with this type of rescue. On this particular rescue, the activists saw 2 different entangled seals lying on the beach, and decided to each go for one separately. Naude went in by hand and caught a young male pup with some thin fishing line around his neck. At the same time Denzil ran higher up the beach with the net and managed to get a slightly bigger animal secured, before coming back to help Naude free his. The fishing line on the first pup was thin, and still had a rusty fishhook dangling from it. They quickly released the pup and moved on to the second, still waiting in the net. This pup was entangled in a much thicker, commercial fishing line. The managed to cut her free also and she was happily off to her awaiting friends. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

Naude and Denzil found a large male Cape Fur Seal covered in rope at Pelican Point, and had to act fast as he was moving towards the ocean. Once they started chasing the animal, is was clear that he was trailing a long piece of this rope behind him. Naude could see the rope was not too tight around the animals neck, so he instructed Denzil to grab the trailing line to help slow the animal down. All the rope around his neck made it difficult for the seal to fit into the net. After a few failed attempts the seal made it into the water, and Naude grabbed the rope too, hoping that if they could turn the seals head towards them, the rope would slide off. This plan worked and the seal was quickly free to join the other seals in the water without the rope burden around his neck. The rope was over 30 meters long, and is a common feature on any ships. There is a heavy weight on one end of the line, and this is used to throw a line from one boat to another. As useful as this item is, it belongs on a boat and not around the neck of an innocent animal. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

Naude and Katja from Ocean Conservation Namibia decided to take their kids to Cape Cross for World Clean Up Day on 19 September 2020. Cape Cross is one of the largest Cape Fur Seal colonies in the world, with up to 400 000 seals calling it their home. They were not planning on doing any rescues, but just scan the area for entanglements. The amount of seals trapped in marine debris - mainly thin fishing lines was astounding. Within an hour they had seen nearly 20 different entangled seals. Naude has only done work here once before. He had a few tools with him, and decided to do a quick rescue on a male pup that was in easy reach. Katja was at his side to help him with the cutting of the lines, and their son Dylan followed them with the camera. The theory was always that Pelican Point has more entangled animals, because of it's close proximity to a large shipping and fishing port. Cape Cross is nearly 200km north of Pelican Point, and should theoretically have less entanglements. This was not the case at all sadly, and Naude and the OCN team with return as soon as possible with more nets and equipment to catch as many seals as possible. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

For the last few weeks Denzil and Naude felt that they were missing too many entangled animals because they were either too close to the ocean, or lying over the ridge on the beach and therefore not always visible from the vehicle. Naude and Denzil are actually both kayak guides, and decided to do a patrol by kayak instead. They could only do the protected waters inside of Pelican Point - a stretch of about 3km. On this morning they managed to catch and disentangle a total of 10 seals! The male seal pup in the video was the first capture for the morning. The seal was fast asleep, and stayed this way until the net was basically right over him. He was stuck is some thick commercial fishing line, and the guys quickly managed to cut him free. Once the lines were cut and the zipper was opened, the pup didn't want to leave! He sat in the net for a while, just looking around before he took a run back to the water. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and visit: https://www.ocnamibia.org/ https://gogetfunding.com/Seal/ https://www.patreon.com/OCN Merchandise now available at: https://teespring.com/stores/ocean-conservation-namibia https://twitter.com/NamibiaOcean https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia