Seal Island

Tourists to Cape Peninsula National Park can go on boat trips at Hout Bay to watch seal colonies on Seal Island or large African penguin colonies at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town.  
These adorable animals and their ecologies never fail to draw substantial number of tourists who wish to see them up close. Spring also the best season for whale spotting; blows by Southern Right Whales that inhabit the waters of Cape Peninsula can also be spotted. For a real treat, try a lobster lunch at one of the seafood restaurants in the area to indulge yourself in the exquisite enjoyment of lifestyle at Cape Peninsula. 

There are approximately 35 species of seals in the world. All seals are typically adorable to look at, intelligent and playful. Seals have a keener sense of listening underwater (compared to when they leave the water) that allows them to accurately distinguish the direction of incoming sounds. Their eyes are well adapted for seeing both below and above the water. When seals dive, they would shut their ears and nostrils to stop breathing, which is also true when they sleep underwater. Young seals typically surface once every 15 minutes to breath; adults can hold out significantly longer and breath once every 30 minutes.
Female seals typically become ready to breed at the age of four, while the males would only be mature enough for mating at 8~12 years old. Mating seasons usually falls in November and December. During the process of mating, the males are so preoccupied in mating with their harems that they can go without food throughout the period and survive solely on the fat they have accumulated in their body. Typically speaking, the period from pregnancy to birth spans for 12 months, and female seals give birth to single pups. Pups are capable of swimming at about six weeks of age, by seven months the pup can swim for two to three days for significant distance at a time. Many 8-month-old seals often swim from Cape Town to Cape Cross in Namibia; the single way trip is no less than 1,600 km in distance.
 

Seals feed primarily on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans. They forage near the water surface and seldom dive deeper than 36 meters under water. They can move at a speed of up to 38 km/h in water.
The average lifespan for seals is roughly 20 years. Male seals can reach up to 350 kg in weight and roughly 2.5 meters in length; females rarely grow beyond 1.7 meters in length or 113 kg in weight. 

The size of the seal population (predominately male) on Duiker Island was approximately 10,000 in 1985 according to a report. However, the place is not an ideal place of breeding for seals because of the island's sharp rocks, which could easily injure or kill young pups. Seals generally molt during the period from January through March, during which the island is crowded with seals because they stop foraging in the water when their furs is shedding.

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