Seals, their oily mass and doe eyes are something to admire up close. I had the chance to see my own reflection in a tame seal’s eyes and touch its textured skin.

The Blubber blob

Blubber is the fat inside of the seal’s body that is used for warmth and food. The blob is the name I gave it because of their body’s shape posing in the sunlight. When I got closer to the seal I saw that there were blunt claws on their flippers which surprised me. It is concealed and not that visible. These claws are mostly used for grooming and scratching, but sometimes for defense which does not happen often.

Psychology

We went for a visit at Houtbaai Harbour where we came upon a strange sight. There was a man feeding a seal some fish out of his mouth! He waved us over and told us to pet his seal. I asked the man how long did it take him to tame the seal and he told me that he had trained it for only four to six months. This process is called classical conditioning which goes way back to 1903, described by Ivan Pavlov

The seal was conditioned to sit still to receive a piece of fish. This is called a conditioned response. This response was strengthened by positive reinforcement as the seal is rewarded with a fish if it obeys the man. Therefore, the man could teach the seal even further to eat fish out of his mouth without the seal biting him. It is interesting to look at the psychology behind this process as it is something which is present in our daily lives. You may use conditioning without even knowing it, maybe you are the subject to conditioning…

Symbiotic relationship

There is a relationship between the seal and the man which can be seen as mutualism. I talked to the man and he told me that many seals fall from their island when they are mere pups. They are too young and have not learned to swim yet. Some drown and some drift on the stream until they are washed upon the shore. When they are still alive they are very weak and the people take them to the little sanctuary at the harbour. There are instances when the pups do not learn to catch their own food, thus the reason the people from the harbour feed them. This is good, but also very bad as they get used to being fed and do not learn to catch their own food at all. They are also being overfed and they get too heavy and slow to catch their own food, thus they become dependant on the people. The people are also dependent on them as tourists walk about and see the tame seals being fed which leads them to give the people a bit of money. The man told me that they use the money to buy fish for the seals or to get food themselves as they are very poor.

Struggle

Life is difficult as it is, but these people taking care of the seals know the real struggle of life to survive. They live on the bare minimum and by entertaining the tourists they are able to feed themselves and their families for the day. There was one man part of a “Kaapse Klopse” band who broke my heart. He had ripped clothes on, most of his teeth were missing and he was mentally disabled. Still, he played the drum and waved, all this while smiling. It makes one realize the reality and how one should be thankful everyday. I gave all the cash I had to the man feeding the seals, but I wish I had more to give. One reason I will never be a millionaire, I will give all I have away to people. Give back to the world and smile, my people. Let us help each other in the smallest and the biggest ways possible.

Not only do the people suffer, but also the seals. When we saw them swimming around in the harbour, there were plastic bottles and bags floating around them. I do not understand why people cannot throw their trash away.

One thing that stood out to me was polystyrene chunks floating about. I could not think of anything explaining the chunks. Later that day I saw the children using a block of polystyrene for body surfing. It was a sad scene as that is all they have close enough to a surfboard. That is their fun and who can blame them or accuse them of pollution? It is not their fault it is the circumstances. The irony is that on that same beach where they use the polystyrene as a bodyboard, some people are on their yachts or using the most expensive equipment for entertainment, for example flyboards or windsurfing boards. This contrast is one of the consequences of our broken world.

Your part

“No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of they friends`s or of thine own were.

Any man`s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

John Donne (1572-1631)

This poem speaks for itself, but I would like to add that “no being is an island”. The poem is also against isolation of oneself, thus more reason to interact with nature and its life. Nature lives in harmony, we should too not only with our own species but also other species and life found in our world. May we help one another where we possibly can.

Thank you for reading my post! I really hope the message got through, even if it is only for one reader.

(The post is of my own creation, except for the poem. All the photographs were taken with my partner, @fermentedphil ‘s Nikon D300. Also shoutout to @fermentedphil for taking me on this adventure, I am forever grateful.)