Divers in Cape Town bitten by a seal
– edited by Bev Mortimer
Oudekraal, Atlantic Seaboard, Cape Town: Foreign and South African divers were bitten by a seal while they were in the water, on the Atlantic Seaboard, Cape Town, yesterday one seriously.
Two of the divers, a Portuguese and a South African lady were treated by paramedics for bite puncture wounds and Portuguese lady was transported to hospital in a stable condition by Netcare 911 ambulance.
The South African lady did not need hospitalisation but was advised to get treatment for antibiotics or tetanus etc as a precaution. A Brazilian man, a French lady, a French man, and a South African man, who all sustained minor scrape bite wounds, were also advised to get treatment. A German man and another South African lady were not bitten.
The NSRI says it appears that a dive charter boat, with four crew and eight divers arrived at Oudekraal where the prepared to scuba dive yesterday. On entering the water to begin scuba diving, a seal started to swim among the divers and began biting them, the NSRI said. The cause of the seal’s behaviour is unknown.
The NSRI also says the boat crew were able to recover all eight divers onto their boat and the alarm was raised. At about 10 am yesterday, 2 March the CoCT water rescue network was alerted by ER24 ambulance services of a local dive charter boat headed towards OPBC (Oceana Power Boat Club) from Oudekraal, on the Atlantic Seaboard, Cape Town, with injured divers onboard and requesting medical care.
NSRI rescue stations 2 Bakoven and 3 Table Bay were alerted together with the emergency services. ER24 ambulance services, WC Government Health EMS, Netcare 911 ambulance services, Life Healthcare response paramedics and Taurus Medical, responded to OPBC to stand-by waiting on the dive charter RHIB’s (rigid hull inflatable boat) arrival.
Be cautious: CoCT authorities, DEFF (Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries), and the SPCA were alerted. NSRI, in cooperation with CoCT, appeal to bathers and divers, in the Oudekraal area and along the Atlantic Seaboard to be aware of this incident and to be cautious.
The skipper and crew of the dive charter boat are commended for swiftly recovering all divers from the water and for alerting the emergency services. ER24 ambulance services are commended for swiftly raising the alarm.
