A stranded young male southern elephant seal named Rocky has found a temporary sanctuary on the lower South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
The seal, who has travelled about 2 000km from his home range, initially arrived at Rocky Bay on Wednesday where he was spotted resting on the beach.
Ann Kunz from the South African Association for Marine Biological Research said Rocky was treated like a VIP guest by the South Coast community, who rallied around and did everything they could to ensure that he was comfortable while resting at Rocky Bay.
She said they had decided to move him to a secluded, protected beach on the lower South Coast.
“We will not bring him into the uShaka Sea World rehabilitation facility unless his health or wellbeing is compromised,” she said.
“Before his relocation, our clinical veterinarian Dr Francois Lampen tagged Rocky with a flipper tag, Number 536, for both short term and long term ease of identification. We hope Rocky returns to the ocean and starts making his way home to the southern oceans, but will be on standby in the event that he returns to rest again on one of the KZN beaches.”
Kunz has appealed to members of the public to keep a distance of at least 5m away from Rocky if they come across him. “And make sure if you have dogs with you that your dogs don’t disturb him. Please don’t feed him or pour water on him and allow him to rest.”
She said he was named Rocky because he was initially found on the beach at Rocky Bay.
“We also thought it was fitting to name him after super-strong Rocky Balboa,” she said.
The story of boxer Rocky Balboa was made famous by actor Sylvester Stallone who portrayed him in a movie in 2006.
Kunz said over the past 10 years they had cared for three elephant seals who came ashore to rest on a KZN beach. Southern elephant seals are found in the Southern Ocean as far down as Antarctica but they do haul out at islands such as Prince Edward and Marion Islands, she said.
Meanwhile, uShaka Sea World is still waiting for the autopsy results of Khethiwe, one of the most-loved bottlenose dolphins at the uShaka aquarium last month. It’s believed that gastric problems might have led to her sudden and unexpected death.
Khethiwe was playing in the pool when she suddenly became distressed and was immediately surrounded by the five other female dolphins in her group. Staff tried to help her, but she was dead within less than five minutes.
Several samples have been sent for testing but it’s not known when the results will be available.