Cape Cross is on the Skeleton
Coast about 120km north of Swakopmund. It is the spot where
Diogo Cao, a Portuguese sailor, set foot on what is now Namibia in
1486. He was the first European to arrive on the Atlantic coast and
he erected a cross here as a navigational aid.
Today, Cape Cross is a popular tourist attraction, not because of its stone
cross, but because of its seal colony. Exactly why the
seals congregate here is not known, but congregate they do. At
certain times of the year as many as 100 000 seals choose to sit on
the same rock or frolic in the surrounding waves and surf.
The presence of so many seals also attracts other wildlife. Predators
such as black-backed jackal and brown hyena are often seen on the
Skeleton Coast. They are drawn to this otherwise barren region by
the abundance of easy food in the form of seal pups. Cape Cross is
a breeding ground for Cape fur seals, actually a species
of sea lion. Most pups are born around November-December and each
bull seal has about 5-25 cows in his harem. He fiercely defends his
females and much fighting goes on amongst the bulls as the cows give
birth. Fully grown bulls can weigh up to 360kg. They lose
a lot of their fat in the first six weeks of the breeding season whilst
actively defending their territory. Between December and February,
the females give birth; each female has one pup. Only seven
days after giving birth, the rutting season begins again. Pups have
black fur and have a very strong relationship with their mothers. Unfortunately
Cape Cross is so crowded with seals that many of the pups get crushed
to death or taken by predators. About 25% of the pups die during
this time, so perhaps this experience is not for the squeamish. Otherwise it’s a wildlife spectacle not to be missed.
Seals consume a lot of fish - up to 8% of their own body
weight daily. As you can imagine, with all those seals eating all
those fish, Cape Cross qualifies as The Smelliest Place on Earth!
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