Cape Town - There has been a spike in the number of marine animals found entangled in fishing nets.
The Two Oceans Aquarium disentangled more than 60 seals in the Western Cape over the past year.
Aquarium curator Maryke Musson said the problem was especially prevalent at the V&A harbour.
“These seals are mostly entangled in fishing line, box bands and various kinds of ropes with 63% being of fishing gear origin. We have only seen a few turtles entangled in fishing gear, but we have seen turtles with injuries which would have been caused by previous entanglements.:
Between 2010 and 2018 the Aquarium team successfully disentangled 927 seals.
Musson said the fishing nets and gear found in the sea had usually been lost or discarded by fishing vessels and fishermen.
“This potentially becomes a lethal trap to sea animals. Very heavy gear can trap and drown marine mammals and turtles. The only solution is to remove such gear from the ocean.”
On Wednesday last week, a seal and a loggerhead turtle washed ashore at Longbeach, Kommetjie.
NSRI Kommetjie station commander Ian Klopper said the seal and loggerhead turtle were trapped in a fishing net.
The seal immediately returned to the sea after being disentangled, appearing to be unharmed, while the turtle was taken to the Two Oceans Aquarium.
Musson said the turtle was fortunate to wash up on shore alive and was currently being rehabilitated. It is still under observation and will be released once she receives health clearance.
“Almost 50% of nesting female sea turtles have some scarring or old wounds from predation or entanglements.
"We have seen a fair amount of turtles with old injuries and presumably from entanglements. The seals that we work with in the harbour often have very deep wounds from ropes cutting through the skin.”
Musson said there were many marine animals that drown in nets and sink to the sea floor. Once the animals' trapped bodies have decomposed, the net will float away to entangle more animals.