The problem of ocean debris: Group saves seals from horrible entanglements

The ocean seems so big and that little fishing line seems so small, but a lost recreational fishing line can create horrible entanglements for animals.

No one knows that better than Naude Dreyer, founder of Ocean Conservation Namibia. Dreyer knows it isn’t only a recreational fishing line. It’s everything. Nets and lines from commercial fishing. A cap blown into the ocean. Discarded rubber gaskets. Hard plastic rings from containers.

All these things cause horrible entanglements to marine life, such as seals, and can prevent them from swimming, walking, or eating.

In Namibia, off the east coast of southern Africa, all seal entanglements are caused by human negligence, Naude says. In 2019, Naude and his group freed more than 150 seals from entanglements around the beaches of Pelican Point. In 2020, that number rose to 600 seals rescued. Hundreds more have been rescued this year.

The entanglements are troubling. Recently a small seal was found completely wrapped in a large trawler net, covering his whole body, head to toe. Other seals have extreme cuts from small strands of fishing line that dig deep into the flesh.

In one case, a baby seal was tied to a dead baby seal in an entanglement of fishing line. Seals are strangled by plastic bags or trapped in discarded hats. They have been found with huge hooks through their tongues. Even discarded t-shirts can trap and strangle marine life.

Naude and his crew make rescues using custom-made nets shaped like a cone. They throw the net over the seal’s head, and the seal wiggles nose-first into the smallest part of the net. The seal can breathe through the net, but the small tip holds the head tightly, limiting the possibility of bites (but not entirely). The nets have zippers that open to expose the body, where lines are cutting deep into the seal’s flesh. Using special tools, the crew can hook thin lines out of the flesh, then cut the lines with scissors.
After each rescue, they record the type of entanglement and take the cut lines off the beach.

The seals, already in pain and distress, are often angry and scared, and rescuers must struggle to save them. But sometimes, a little pup freed from a line will stay a moment and accept a pet — a little ‘thank you’ that the crew loves.

See their amazing rescue videos on YouTube or Facebook.