A busy week after almost a month of quiet. A dolphin calf stranded at Wilderness and was necropsied at short notice, and two very thin yearling seals, at Victoria Bay and Glentana, sadly did not survive.
Deceased Dolphin Calf, Wilderness
📍 Location: Wilderness 📅 Date: Wednesday 14 to Thursday 15 October 👤 Necropsy team: Lily, Michelle, Gerrie, Marietjie, Monica
- On Wednesday afternoon, a deceased dolphin was reported from Wilderness.
- A hastily convened necropsy team met on Thursday morning to collect samples and data. It was a small calf in excellent condition, with beautiful colours and no obvious cause of death.
- Huge thanks to Lily, Michelle, Gerrie, Marietjie and Monica for assisting at short notice.
- Monica offered to dig a hole above the high tide mark for the body parts we removed during the necropsy. In her enthusiasm, she made a hole large enough for us to bury the carcass afterwards!
🐬 Status: Necropsy completed, samples and data collected. No obvious cause of death. Buried above the high tide mark.
Yearling Seal, Victoria Bay
📍 Location: Victoria Bay 📅 Date: Thursday 15 to Friday 16 October 👤 Responder: Lily
- Two yearling seals were reported, at Victoria Bay and Glentana. Lily and Val responded and took videos and photos of two very thin and weak animals.
- Lily reported early on Friday that the Vic Bay seal had died overnight.
🕯️ Status: Died overnight. Not tested or examined for cause of death.
Yearling Seal, Glentana and Great Brak
📍 Location: Glentana; Great Brak estuary 📅 Date: Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October 👤 Responder: Val
- The Glentana seal went back to sea and was seen later in the Great Brak estuary (presumed to be the same animal, given the short distance between the beaches). Val responded, and it swam out through the river mouth back to sea.
- On Saturday, a seal once again hauled out at Glentana (same seal?), and a video showed its laboured breathing and poor condition. It was very weak and fairly unresponsive.
- Sadly, it died overnight. Unfortunately, neither seal was tested or examined for possible cause of death. In an ideal world… we wish!
🕯️ Status: Died overnight after a weak, laboured final day. Not tested or examined.
Till next Sunday, be blessed. 🐾