Kayaker Is Greeted By Scores of Curious Baby Seals and It's Legit Wild

Few animals have babies as cute and universally cooed over as seals—their pups with their large eyes, adorably flippers and twitchy whiskers are widely considered among the most charming of all baby mammals, and thus I’m excited to inform you that there’s a bay in Namibia where you can kayak into massive crowds of them.

The only question remains is if you will still find them precious after they capsize your boat?

View the original article to see embedded media.

For this tourist in Walvis Bay, Namibia, the answer was a resounding yes. His recent kayak trip off the southwest coast of Africa, in the South Atlantic Ocean, presented him with more juvenile seals than most people could handle. The seals in question were all Cape Fur Seals, a species native to this area of Africa from southern Angola and around the horn of South Africa.

Related: Baby Seal Playing With Remote Control Toy Boat Is So Precious

In the video, he and his companions kayak out to a spot on the water with so many seal pups in it, it looks like their boat is about to be overrun. The pups are loud, boisterous, and clearly not afraid of humans, as they attempt to chew on his paddles and even climb up into the kayak.

Our best guess is that these seals are used to tourist visit, and are perhaps even primed for their arrival by whichever company runs these tours by being fed on the sly. After all, once a wild animal is given food by humans, they may learn to lose their natural fear of them. This is a process known as habituation, and it may have sinister implications, especially in Namibia.

All About Cape Fur Seals

As the name might indicate, Cape Fur Seals were a species once prized for its valuable fur, and they were almost hunted to extinction early in the last century. Cape Fur Seals actually resemble sea lions more than “true seals,” as they have exterior ear flaps and long flippers that make them more agile when they are traveling on the beach. Their thick, insulating fur was a major luxury item, and certain parts of their anatomy still fetch a high price in exotic markets today.

Thanks to protections put in place, the population of seals is now stable at over two million, and many seal-based products are banned in Europe and other places which drives down the demand for them.

Seal Culling

However, Cape Fur Seals are still hunted in enormous numbers in Namibia. Seal pups, in particular, are culled in numbers greater than eighty thousand per year, largely by clubbing over the head with a pipe. According to the government, this practice is meant to protect fishing stocks off the coast, but some environmentalists say that the seals actually protect the kinds of fish harvested by commercial fisheries by eating mainly their predators like Goby and Lantern fish, which are not eaten by humans.

One argument against the practice is that the country can make more in tourist dollars seal watching than in selling seal products due to the bans in so many other countries. However, watching the seals swarm this tourist kayak, one wonders if they are not being set up in this charming video for imminent slaughter by humans with very different intentions.

Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos.

Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.