This young seal was lucky enough to be caught and have the trash around its neck cut off, but there are so many more that aren’t. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Seals are curious animals. They like to play with things, and they’re very cute when they do it. But a young seal at Pelican Point, just a stone’s throw from Namibia’s famous Skeleton Bay, found itself in a bit of trouble when its curiosity got the best of him.
“If you were a curious seal youngster, exploring the oceans for the first time, would you be able to resist this toy?” the rescuers at Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) ask. “Would you be able to tell yourself that it is probably safest to stay away from this unknown object and mind your own business? Or would you swim a little bit faster to beat your seal friends to it, grab it, and toss it around a bit? Maybe throw it in the air? Possibly swim through it until you can’t shake it off anymore?”
The seal in the video you see here clearly wasn’t able to resist the temptation. Luckily, though, Ocean Conservation Namibia workers spend much of their time chasing seals who’ve managed to get themselves stuck in the stuff we’ve carelessly tossed away.
“Your natural instincts would have warned you of predators and dangerous situations, but plastic is not meant to even exist in your natural habitat,” OCN wrote. “Plastic is a silent killer and has become one of marine animals’ biggest threats. It is an unfair battle and everybody loses.”
Luckily, this seal was caught and the trash wrapped its neck was cut off, but there are many, many more that suffer from the effects of the carelessness of humans.
