One for the guys and gals of the Hout Bay Yacht Club and as a warning!
This is not any seal and its said to be only the 5th Leopard Seal to have
been sighted in South Africa, plus one of the other sightings was also in Hout Bay! with another of Cape Point and thats quite close we seem to be the main target area.
I actually saw this chap, hard not to when he was about fifty feet away from my boat!
Note, this shot was actually taken on the ABC marina close by, so the seal moved around in the harbour some.
http://www.zestforbirds.co.za/leopardseal01.html (more pictures in this link)
Africa's 5th Leopard Seal!
Text and photos by: Trevor Hardaker (my thanks for the use of his story and pictures)
On Wednesday, 17 August 2005, a Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx was located in the Hout Bay harbour area near to Cape Town. Based on available information, there are 4 previous records of this species on the continent - one previously at Hout Bay, one at Bortjiesdrif near Cape Point, one at Jutten Island and one near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
Leopard Seals occur widely in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. They are most abundant in pack ice and fast-ice habitats closer to the continent, especially along the Antarctic Peninsula. They regularly occur at South Georgia, the Falkland Islands, Macquarie, South Orkney, South Shetland and Kergeulen Islands, especially in September and October and occasionally also occur at Marion Island. Vagrants have also been reported from South America, Australia and New Zealand.
Copyright © 2000 ZEST for BIRDS. All rights reserved.
Designed, constructed and maintained by © ZEST for BIRDS and © Spyderweb Design
Thanks for publishing this for us. Roy
This is not any seal and its said to be only the 5th Leopard Seal to have
been sighted in South Africa, plus one of the other sightings was also in Hout Bay! with another of Cape Point and thats quite close we seem to be the main target area.
I actually saw this chap, hard not to when he was about fifty feet away from my boat!
Note, this shot was actually taken on the ABC marina close by, so the seal moved around in the harbour some.
http://www.zestforbirds.co.za/leopardseal01.html (more pictures in this link)
Africa's 5th Leopard Seal!
Text and photos by: Trevor Hardaker (my thanks for the use of his story and pictures)
On Wednesday, 17 August 2005, a Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx was located in the Hout Bay harbour area near to Cape Town. Based on available information, there are 4 previous records of this species on the continent - one previously at Hout Bay, one at Bortjiesdrif near Cape Point, one at Jutten Island and one near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
Leopard Seals occur widely in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. They are most abundant in pack ice and fast-ice habitats closer to the continent, especially along the Antarctic Peninsula. They regularly occur at South Georgia, the Falkland Islands, Macquarie, South Orkney, South Shetland and Kergeulen Islands, especially in September and October and occasionally also occur at Marion Island. Vagrants have also been reported from South America, Australia and New Zealand.
So fellow yachties of Hout Bay, just be carefull where you walk and swim from now on!
Copyright © 2000 ZEST for BIRDS. All rights reserved.
Designed, constructed and maintained by © ZEST for BIRDS and © Spyderweb Design
Thanks for publishing this for us. Roy
