Selso heads off on new adventure
SELSO, an elephant seal found stranded on a KwaZulu-Natal beach almost two years ago, then rehabilitated at uShaka Sea World, has set off on new adventures.
The three-and-a-half-year-old is heading south after more rest and recuperation at the Bayworld Aquarium in Port Elizabeth.
Sea World assistant curator Colette Bodenstaff, Selso’s principal caregiver during his seven-month stopover in Durban, flew to Port Elizabeth to help the Bayworld staff before Selso was re-released.
Selso first hit the headlines after Bodenstaff received a call about a “strange-looking” seal lying on the beach at Southbroom. The severely underweight seal was taken to Sea World, fattened up and rehabilitated.
Before being released, a satellite tracking device was fitted to his head to monitor the depth, temperature, duration and location of his dives. He was then crated and released from a cruise ship in January last year, 45 nautical miles off Port Elizabeth.
He travelled southwards at a leisurely pace, reaching the Antarctic shelf four months after entering the water, Sea World spokeswoman Ann Kunz said yesterday.
At the end of last year he beached at the Cape Recife nature reserve near Bayworld Aquarium.
“Besides moulting, his loss of weight was noticeable and the valuable satellite tag on his head was about to fall off.”
It had recorded his travels of more than 8 000km from South Africa to the Antarctic and back.
Bodenstaff observed Selso’s final weigh-in at Bayworld. Blood and DNA samples were taken.
Selso was encouraged into a crate and after a two-and-a-half hour trip to the continental shelf, with depths of up to 2000m, he entered the water.
The last satellite update, on March 14, showed he was 750km from Marion Island, 1 350km from Port Elizabeth and 1 700km from Durban.
Selso is thought to be the first southern elephant seal to be rehabilitated.