Cape Cross Seal Reserve, Namibia, Africa
Tourist Attraction Near Henties Bay on Namibian West Coast
Jul 21, 2009
Driving north of Swakopmund in Namibia's National West Coast Recreational Area, tourists must pass the small town of Henties Bay to arrive at Namibia's largest colony of Cape Fur Seals.
History of Cape Cross Seal Reserve
Portuguese sailors in the 1400's traditionally erected crosses wherever they landed on their explorations. In 1486, Diego Cao landed on Namibian soil at Cape Cross and built a limestone cross (padrão) in honor of King Johannes of Portugal on the rocky outcrop.
After German South West Africa, currently Namibia was established in 1884, the Germans needed a better harbor than Swakopmund and German Captain Becker was tasked to find one. Becker found that Cape Cross was a good harbor, but there was no fresh water.
During their search for water, they found the cross, which was erected by Diego Cão, took it to Germany in 1893 where it now resides in the Berlin Museum of Transport and Technic. Becker replaced Diego's stone cross with a five-meter tall wooden one that was replaced by a granite replica of the original stone cross in 1895. The replica bears inscriptions in German, Portugese and Latin.
In 1980, the National Monuments Council of Namibia unveiled an exact replica of the cross by Diego Cão on the exact spot where the original padrão stood. The cross is made of Namibian Dolerite to blend in with the rocky outcrops at Cape Cross. On other levels, the Cão family crest and the wording of the original padrão in Latin, Portugese, English, Afrikaans and German can be seen.
Despite the lack of fresh water, the large seal colony resulted in an economic bloom for the area. Local people coveted the seals for their meat, fur, and oil and guano collection provided a profitable income. By 1903, the seal population was reduced and the guano exhausted to such an extent that the economic activities were halted.
Cape Cross Seal Colony Today
According to Willie and Sandra Olivier, African Adventurer's Guide to Namibia, Struik Publishers, 2003, Cape Cross hosts nearly a third of Namibia's entire seal colony. The number of seals present fluctuates during the year with the peak being in mid-October when the bulls arrive to establish and defend their territories.
From late November to mid- December the cows give birth to pups which congregate in dense groups while their mothers feed at sea. This makes the pups vulnerable to predators and the black-backed jackal and brown hyena frequent the beaches to feed on the pups. Estimations are that these predators are responsible for up to 25 percent of pup mortalities.
Exploitation of Cape Fur Seals at Cape Cross
Despite animal rights groups protesting at the culling of Cape Fur Seals, the Ministry of Fisheries still allows the annual harvesting of pups and bulls for economic purposes. An estimated 80 000 seal pups and 6000 bulls are culled yearly. Besides Canada, Namibia is the only country in the world to allow the culling of Cape Fur Seals.
The reasoning behind the culling is that without the culling, the seal population would expand too quickly and have a devastating effect on the fish available in the Atlantic Ocean as seals consume approximately 8% of their own weight in fish per day. This, however, remains a contentious issue, which attracts wide protests every year and even lead to the arrest of two journalists on the 16th of July 2009 at Cape Cross while they attempted to film the culling. Negotiations between the current buyer of seal products and Francois Hugo of Seal Alert SA are pending where Francois Hugo wants to buy out the seal industry in Namibia for the next ten years and put an end to the culling of the pups and bulls.
When to Visit Cape Cross Seal Reserve
The Reserve is open daily between 10h00 and 17h00 and offers visitors the normal ablution facilities but no overnight accommodation. Entrance fees are set by the Namibian Wildlife Resorts and may be paid in advance.
Although the best time to visit the Cape Cross Seal Reserve is during November and December, most tourists travel to Namibia during the cooler winter months. The seal population will not be as prolific, the pups bigger, but the seals are present throughout the year, and tourists will not be disappointed.
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