Fundamentally the Marine Connection is a dolphin and whale charity, however when we were contacted by Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-South Africa to help support a campaign regarding thousands of baby seals being killed , we simply could not ignore the issue. I am sure you won’t too after reading the following information.

Is "Seal Conservation" completely DEAD in Southern Africa?

Between July and November every year, Namibia starts its annual "cull" of 60,000 baby Cape Fur seals - mostly males, still nursing on their mother's milk. They are the only marine protected species to still be commercially killed in southern Africa. Excluded are great white sharks, seabirds, turtles, dolphins, whales and other seals. In the 2006 season alone, thousands of seven-month old seals were rounded up on two mainland seal colonies and slaughtered. These kills take place within a diamond restricted area and also in a nature reserve which is open to paying tourists in the summer. Every day a minimum of 430 seals were clubbed to death to fill the 60,000 set government Total Allowable Catch quota. Whilst Canada kills more seals (350,000) it does not kill 'nursing baby seals' and sets its quota at 30% of the pups in its 5-6 million seal population, whereas Namibia awards quotas that kill every pup.

Namibia now has the distinction of having the second biggest seal harvest in the world, but unlike other sealing countries, as its CITES harvest exports show and as confirmed by the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries, sealing is conducted on only two mainland seal colonies who together are responsible for 75% of the Namibian pup production. Francois Hugo has been investigating the "conservation" of seals, or the lack of it, since 1999. To date all his questions raised have remained either unanswered, ignored or simple lied about. The question that needs answering is -what is happening to this species of seal, first discovered on the Cape west coast on offshore islands over 5 million years ago? Are the Cape fur seals in South Africa and Namibia one species, which migrates between both countries, if so, why is it not being managed as one species, with a common policy?

Since becoming a protected species in 1973, southern Africa has commercially killed over 1.5 million of these baby seals, over and above those killed in commercial fisheries or through natural predation or mortality. As far back as 1972 when the US Marine Mammal Protection Act was introduced and in which South Africa was exporting all its seal skins to one company in the US, known as the Fouke Fur Company, this act banned the import of seal skins from South Africa. The US Marine Mammal Act, the US appeal court and US NOAA fisheries declared that the harvesting of nursing baby seals to be inhumane, and in 1977 banned all imports into the US. Protected Cape fur seals are slaughtered at two colonies in Namibia.

In the north, the Cape Cross Seal colony is in a nature reserve, the only privately owned land on this northern coastline with a beachfront - its main attraction? The biggest mainland-seal breeding colony in the world, only 4km away. However what the public don't realise is that the sealers go into the colony from 5am to 10am most days, and then it opens to the public from 10am to 5pm.

The south seal colony is situated in the sperrgebiet restricted diamond area No.1. and was rumoured to be controlled by De Beers. 60% of the seals killed are situated within this area of Namibia. However De Beers have now confirmed that they do not own the land or are involved in the culling of the seals in anyway. Stephen Lussier, Director of External Corporate Affairs from the De Beers Group recently confirmed this. Click here for his letter. Since 1990, mobile phones and camera's have been banned from the diamond restricted area of the sperrgebiet, but sealers can daily bring in guns, silencers, clubs and knife's for at least 130 days per year, and are ushered through the security check-point to butcher these baby seals. Over 90% of the pups will still be nursing on their mother's milk at the time of their slaughter.

In 1994 the African penguins were severely affected by the sinking of the Apollo and its oil slick. The rescue of these birds had the full support of the South African government so why does the same Government turn a blind eye to a species being inhumanely killed and that is also legally protected? In June 2000 there was also the largest rescue and rehabilitation effort to clean and save over 20,000 oiled African penguins - a month later, the Namibian government announced it was doubling the sealing quota to 67,000 seals. In 2000 the sealers received an income of $85,000 US dollars from 42,000 pups killed. To view the seals at Cape Cross is $6 US dollars per person, surely the animals are worth more alive?

This is simply an international crime against marine wildlife. South Africa stopped commercially killing Cape fur seals 16 years ago, Namibia must now do the same.

Take Action!

Together we can put an end this hunt !

The Marine Connection urges you to email the following:

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Namibia
- asking why he allows this slaughter to continue
Email the Minister here

You can also write to the company of sealers who carry out the killings, for the payment of just few dollars per baby seal.

Mr Albert Brink - Sea Lion Products
Email Mr. Brink here

Read further information about the Seal Rescue Centre here

There were several protests in 2006 against the London Namibian Embassy throughout the culling season to make the Namibian Government aware that the UK public care about this issue. A big thank you to all those who supported these protests.