As so often at the Seal Reserve at Cape Point, the rescuers capture more than one entangled seal. They have very little time to properly scout for entanglements. If in doubt whether there is an entanglement or just an old scar, they sometimes decide to rather capture a seal anyways as they might not get a second chance to see the animal again. If the animal has been previously rescued, we get a chance to have a look at the healed up wound, if the animal is still entangled, we can remove the culprit and give the seal a new life. The strategy pays off for seal #2 in this video, only after through examination do they find a very thin loop of fishing line under the seal's skin. 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

We do not usually take other people along, but we made an exception for world famous pro-surfer Koa Smith from Hawaii last year during winter surf season. He had joined us for rescues before and we know he cares about the ocean and its animals as much as we do. They rescue a huge pup from a ball of fishing line, immediately followed by a colossal prime alpha male, also entangled in a thick loop of commercial fishing line. He is so big, he got stuck in the rescue net for a while before he escaped. Naude's breathing sounds a bit heavier than usual - there was a lot of off screen sprinting before the rescues, he is in great health! 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

St Joseph Sharks have a venomous spine protruding from their dorsal fin that they use for self-defense. If attacked by a seal, they can use their spine to fight off a predator, and if this spine gets stuck in the seal's skin, it can cause terrible and painful infections. It is not life threatening itself, but it can weaken the seal to a dangerous level, and the rescuers decided to rather intervene and give this already emaciated looking seal a second chance in life. Hopefully he can pick up some weight soon! 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

Many of our seals are entangled in nothing but one strain of fishing line, knotted together to form a loop. This tiny piece of plastic is strong enough to cut deep into an animal's flesh, strong enough to stop the animal from eating, and at some point even breathing. Fishing line and fishing knots are designed to withhold immense pressure. The knot can be our only indication if a seal is entangled or not, it often forms a visible tag we can detect with our spotting scope and binoculars from far away. Once we catch the seal, we always look for the knot first because we cannot simply pull the knot out of the animals wound without causing a lot more pain and injury, even if we have to turn the animal around, especially when the knot is deeply embedded in the seal's entanglement wound. For this reason, we have more than one zipper on our rescue net, to have access from multiple sides. 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

He is so small, Wally can just pick him up with his hands like a little puppy. He is just a few months old, but he has already been exposed to ocean rubbish and plastic pollution. While exploring the ocean, he got himself wrapped up in a ball of snoek fishing line, one of our most common seal entanglements. Without human intervention, he would have had no chance to survive, the fishing line would have soon started to cut into him until he can no longer hunt, eat, move, or even breathe. 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

Fat and in excellent health - if it wasn't for the piece of plastic packaging strap around his neck, he would have the ultimate life at the Seal Reserve at Cape Cross. The OCN rescuers fix this imperfection and remove the plastic with the help of their Leatherman Raptors, and the seal is free to go. He is in no rush, he takes his time before he goes back to his friends, life is good again. 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

"The Joker" earned her sad nickname from a horrible injury caused by a piece of very thin fishing line. The line was stuck in her mouth and had cut deep into her flesh, creating a smile-like wound on each side of her head, just like Batman's arch enemy and supervillain The Joker. This seal has of course done absolutely nothing to deserve her situation and the OCN rescuers are happy to remove the ocean rubbish from her mouth. She was disentangled early enough to avoid serious infection and malnutrition, but we could not spare her from a lot of pain that this entanglement had caused already. 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

We have never seen anything like this before - two tiny seal pups are trying desperately to get away from each other and from a third, already dead seal, fighting for their survival. They have been biting each other and pulling each other's fishing line loop entanglements even tighter, they have no chance to survive without human intervention. Wally and Kat spotted this bundle of misery from their kayak at Pelican Point and they immediately jump into action and remove the fishing line. Both surviving pups are already weakened, but they will hopefully find their moms now and recover. Even after well over 1500 seal rescues under our belts, we were still shocked to witness such pain and desperation, all caused by human lack of empathy and negligence. 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia

We often find pieces of fishing line on the beach. It is hard to tell from a far distance if we are looking at general beach rubbish or an entanglement. We usually wait and see if the plastic moves with the seals or if it stays in one spot. Tony's gut feeling is right today - the fishing line is wrapped around a seal's hind flipper AND her pup. Double entanglements escalate quickly. Entangled animals hurt each other when they try to break free and they can no longer move around on their own. There is also the added danger of entangling even more seals or other animals in the same piece of fishing line. The chase is already enough to help the pup shake off the fishing line, but for the mother, the rescue process is a lot more painful. The fishing line has dug deep into her flesh. 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 available at: https://ocnamibia.myspreadshop.com/ https://twitter.com/OCNamibia https://www.instagram.com/oceanconservationnamibia/ https://www.facebook.com/OCNamibia