The BBC’s Planet Earth series has captured plenty of unprecedented animal behaviour, from a deep-sea vampire squid glowing in the dark to a hungry polar bear risking the tusks of a walrus to secure a meal. And the original 2006 series captured an incredible first-of-its-kind, slow-motion sequence of great white sharks hunting fur seals off Cape Town. Each dawn, […]
Tag: cape fur seals
Loss of great white sharks triggers domino effect down food chain, study shows
CAPE TOWN — South Africa’s False Bay was once known as a global hotspot for great white sharks. But within the span of a few years, between 2015 and 2019, this apex predator vanished from the area, leading to profound ecological changes, according to a new study. The study suggests that the disappearance of the […]
Why are Cape fur seals in South Africa infected with rabies?
In May this year, a seal at a popular beach in Cape Town, South Africa, bit five surfers in a matter of minutes. The surfers laughed it off with characteristic nonchalance, but seal experts were concerned because this extremely unusual behaviour seemed part of what was becoming a pattern. Six days earlier, on the other […]