Late last month, an elephant seal hauled out at Sunshine Bay near Batemans Bay, delighting National Parks’ staff and making a welcome addition to the heavy workloads of ORRCA volunteers.
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A quick evaluation by ORRCA and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) confirmed the seal was a juvenile female in very good condition, particularly considering how far she had travelled.
Elephant seals are an Antarctic species and their visits to NSW are very rare.
An Elephant seal hauled out briefly at Coila Beach north of Tuross Head and Narooma on October 21 last year, but prior to that the most recent reported sighting was in the mid 1990s.
ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) President Ronny Ling said the call to the ORRCA hotline resulted in an exciting weekend for wildlife rehabilitators.
“We cordoned off an area around the seal and for the duration of her whirlwind visit, teams from WIRES and ORRCA, under the direction of National Parks and Wildlife, worked together to give the animal plenty of space to rest on the beach.
“Volunteers shared their knowledge about this wonderful species with everyone who came to visit.
“September and October are the busiest time of year for ORRCA and when calls are received we attend to evaluate the animal’s health and condition.
“ORRCA teams spend hours caring for seals every day, but this was a wonderful opportunity to evaluate and monitor a species we don’t get to see very often.”
If you see a marine mammal on land or distressed, call the ORRCA hotline on 9415 3333 or your local NPWS office.
NPWS reminds people that seals have sharp teeth and may cause injury to people, pets or themselves if they feel threatened. Seals naturally haul out of the water to rest, so observe them from at least 40 metres and keep dogs well away.
The recent history:
In 1971 an Elephant seal juvenile suffering from infected Shark wounds was collected at Emerald Beach Coffs Harbour and taken into care, after which time it died in captivity in September 1984 following a stroke.
In 1980 a male Elephant Seal Juvenile was found at Garrie Beach, Royal National Park. It died six days later from a parasitic infection.
In 1994 a female Juvenile Elephant Seal was taken off Dee Why beach Sydney and rehabilitated by Taronga. This animal was later released from Hobart in March 1995 (this was before the Antarctic treaty agreement was in place – now seals requiring intervention are taken into permanent care or euthanased due to their potential to introduce disease into wild colonies).
