Two seals, one net. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
There’s almost nothing cuter than baby seals. Sadly, baby seals are curious little animals, and they’re often curious about the trash we vomit into the ocean at a breakneck pace. In the video you see here, two baby seals are tied together by a discarded net.
Luckily for the pair, there’s a group of people working extraordinarily hard to save as many seals as they can in Namibia from pretty horrible, drawn-out deaths. Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) was started back in 2020 by Naude and Katja Dreyer. They were intent on both saving animals in their area and creating more awareness about the impact of plastic pollution on animals, especially the seals. Based in Walvis Bay, Namibia, Ocean Conservation Namibia is just a stone’s throw from one of the world’s most perfect waves. Skeleton Bay has been the location for some of the best surf clips in existence, like this one.
OCN workers had spotted one seal hopelessly entangled in the discarded net a while ago, but over the course of the next few days, they realized that it had become tied up with another seal. They knew then that something had to be done quickly, so they set out to free them. As you’d imagine, though, it’s not all that easy.
After hours of searching — and a dozen or so other rescues — the crew was alerted by a group of boaters that the tied-up seals were in the water. OCN rescuers hopped in a kayak and headed out, spotted the seals on the beach, and gave chase. After a bit of a struggle, the seals appeared to understand what was happening. They were freed from their ropes and headed back into the water, where hopefully they will swim unencumbered for a long time.