Sheer horror

MARINA BOTHA WRITES: I am writing as a really distraught, intensely upset and deeply concerned mother and human being, regarding the horrific state of the seal population at Cape Point, Namibia.

I wish I had the power and funds to take matters in my own hands to better the situation, but all I have is this letter and my prayers to God.

I have visited the site with my husband, 13 year old daughter and 15 year old son, against better judgement, not listening to many of our friends telling us not to, as we will also be upset, just like they were. Even the Namibian citizens warned us not to go as it's very disturbing. Upon arrival we had to pay R350 in total, to go and see a sea of immense suffering, struggling, dead or starving seals.

I know dying is part of every day life, more so with Covid affecting all of us, but what is happening there is inhumane. It looked like a battlefield rather than a tourist attraction.

I don't live in Namibia and can’t get a petition signed by hundreds of people. All I can do is write this letter and hope that it will reach the right people to listen and take action.

Life is cruel and unfair and only people who knows important, highly influential people normally gets heard, so my plea to you is, please take the time to listen to me.

Seals, especially the babies, are lying there, dead, others screaming of hunger and struggling to get through or over the many dead seals. Others gets onto the sight seeing deck, where tourist ignore the sign to close the gate. There, a lot of seals are lying dying or dead.
No removal of the seals was done, nobody to control and oversee that people obey the rules, closing the gate, that the seals are seen to or that any information is available to read or that the information that's available, is legible. Nothing but pain and death – no enjoyment of the sight of seals are present.

My daughter was so upset, she ran to the car crying. My son couldn’t take it either and all of us was so upset the rest of the day that nothing got to be enjoyed after that.

It’s supposed to be a huge tourist attraction, but all that it is, is a pool of dead and struggling seals. They were even lying on the car park site, dead or half alive, even pieces of seals or seals that have been dead for a long time were to be seen.

What is the money used for that one pays at the gate? To kill some of them once or twice a year, to “control the population”?

Everybody that we talked to warned us about the many babies and seals of all sizes lying dead or dying. I warned my friend about the trauma they will be facing going there, and they decided against it, so not to traumatize their children as well.

It definitely isn’t good for tourism. No one visiting while we were there was smiling, instead everyone had frowns on their faces or was shocked and quiet.

We love Namibia and will definitely visit again, but never will we go back to Cape Cross again. We can’t get the horrific images out of our heads.

Please do something for the sake of the seals and let this be a place of enjoyment again that will bring lasting, great and pleasant memories for generations to come. Please don’t just throw this letter away. Please pay attention to what I’ve written to you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.