Elephant seal's surprising stroll through Gordon's Bay ends with safe return to the sea

IN A BIZARRE and unexpected sighting, a large Southern elephant seal was spotted wandering through the streets of Gordon’s Bay in the Western Cape yesterday morning, nearly a kilometre from the shoreline. The marine mammal was safely returned to the sea by the afternoon.

Stunned residents first noticed the massive elephant seal around 6 am and began filming the unusual encounter.

Videos and photos online showed the visibly fatigued seal moving slowly along tarred roads, even propping its upper body on a parked vehicle before continuing to move forward.

By 8 am, officials from the Cape of Good Hope SPCA had arrived at Sir Lowry’s Pass Road, where the animal had settled in a residential area.

Efforts were immediately launched to ensure the seal's safety and eventual relocation.

SPCA spokesperson Belinda Abraham said inspectors had devised a safe, low-stress plan to return the elephant seal, which she noted was a sub-adult male, to its natural habitat.

“This is a rather unexpected visitor,” Abraham said.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said the seal likely made its way inland during the early hours.

“The seal had been busy since early morning. He was around the beach area and then moved closer inland. We often see seals here, but not like this, it’s not an everyday occurrence. This was unusual. The seal was huge!” she said.

“There were a lot of Gordon’s Bay residents at the scene because it was something phenomenal, especially at that time of the morning.”

Despite the growing crowd of onlookers, the animal appeared unbothered, calmly navigating the streets as residents looked on in amazement.

According to an update on the Cape of Good Hope SPCA Facebook page yesterday afternoon, the elephant seal was safely returned to the sea.

In their post, the SPCA said the operation was a "hours-long rescue involving multiple agencies, a concerned community and a very big seal".

This isn’t the first time a seal has ventured into Cape Town’s suburbs. In December 2022, a female seal was seen crossing the busy Jakes Gerwel Drive near Vangate Mall in Athlone.

That animal was later safely returned to its marine environment by Chief Inspector Jaco Pieterse of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.