A rather large tourist

A RARE and unusual visitor has called at Walvis Bay’s Pelican Point for the third time.

An elephant seal has been beaching herself for about three weeks around October every year. It is not certain whether it is the same seal every year.This time a second one appeared a few days later.Elephant seals mostly stay in deep water and come ashore very rarely.”They usually do that to moult,” says Jean Paul Roux, marine scientist at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.This behaviour is also not typical of the species, as they normally moult close to their breeding grounds.”There is no explanation why they come here,” Roux told The Namibian.The huge seals, easily recognised by their pendulous noses that give them their name, are rare in Namibian waters.Although the odd elephant seals seen in Namibian waters are regarded as stragglers, Roux said there were two to three reports per year of the seals going ashore.Pelican Point is the usual site, but they have also been seen at Luederitz and as far as Moewe Bay.They usually spend three weeks fasting on land to go through the moulting process.This can happen any time between October and January.Roux says it looks as if they are peeling, as the fur and top layer of the epidermis come off.Elephant seals dive to incredible depths and can stay under for more than an hour.The record depth is over 1 500 m.They mainly feed on squid.The closest breeding ground to Namibia is Gough Island, south of Tristan da Cunha.The main breeding ground is the island of South Georgia situated south of the Falkland Islands.Elephant seal males are much larger than the females.Males can be up to 6 m in length and weigh up to 3 500 kg.They are not scared of people and do not have any land predators.It is not certain whether it is the same seal every year.This time a second one appeared a few days later.Elephant seals mostly stay in deep water and come ashore very rarely.”They usually do that to moult,” says Jean Paul Roux, marine scientist at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.This behaviour is also not typical of the species, as they normally moult close to their breeding grounds.”There is no explanation why they come here,” Roux told The Namibian.The huge seals, easily recognised by their pendulous noses that give them their name, are rare in Namibian waters.Although the odd elephant seals seen in Namibian waters are regarded as stragglers, Roux said there were two to three reports per year of the seals going ashore.Pelican Point is the usual site, but they have also been seen at Luederitz and as far as Moewe Bay.They usually spend three weeks fasting on land to go through the moulting process.This can happen any time between October and January.Roux says it looks as if they are peeling, as the fur and top layer of the epidermis come off.Elephant seals dive to incredible depths and can stay under for more than an hour.The record depth is over 1 500 m.They mainly feed on squid.The closest breeding ground to Namibia is Gough Island, south of Tristan da Cunha.The main breeding ground is the island of South Georgia situated south of the Falkland Islands.Elephant seal males are much larger than the females.Males can be up to 6 m in length and weigh up to 3 500 kg.They are not scared of people and do not have any land predators.