A few years ago, thousands of seals began to wash up on the shores of the Republic of Namibia in Southern Africa.

The mystified folks who witnessed this assumed seals were dying on the beach at an alarming rate because of starvation. They weren’t wrong.

During one rescue operation, members of Ocean Conservation Namibia discovered two spikes on a seal’s neck.

As if marine debris wasn’t bad enough, there had to be more dangerous objects polluting the waters.

But when Naude and Denzil, the rescuers, got closer, they realized those weren’t spikes.

They were St. Joseph sharks hanging on the seal’s neck.

St. Joseph sharks, also known as Cape elephantfish, are silvery and bronze fish typically found in nearshore nursery areas.

A distinctive feature of this species is the large, venomous spine on their dorsal fins.

St. Joseph sharks are described as strange-looking with long, pointed tails and trunk-like lobes.

They also have four-gill slits fused into one opening. The scaleless fish also have a cartilaginous skeleton similar to sharks and rays.

Why are they seen so often? St. Joseph sharks migrate inshore during summer to mate and lay eggs.

The eggs are left in shallow areas closer to the shore.

These small, soft-bodied fish have noticeably large heads, long snouts and prominent lines on their skin that make them look like a stitched-together patchwork. All of these are in fact electrical sensors that the #StJosephshark uses to find small shellfish in the sediment. pic.twitter.com/hkdnqJFPNl

— Two Oceans Aquarium (@2OceansAquarium) October 29, 2020

Seals don’t usually feed on St. Joseph sharks.

But because of massive starvation, they’re left with no choice.

While these sharks serve as food for seals, seals end up with the consequence of getting the sharks’ poisonous barbs stuck on them.

When the rescuers saw the seal, they saw it struggling and in pain.

One of them recalled,

“We found the culprit. We found what we thought were stingray barbs. We had two in the last week, thinking that it’s stingray barbs. This is St. Joseph’s shark.”

The rescuers immediately removed the spike from the seal.

After ensuring there were no more spikes, they went to another seal who was also hurt.

This one had a cut on its chest from a thin pitching line which the rescuers immediately removed.

The mass starvation was hurting seals in more ways than they knew.

Offering more information on their recent rescues and the state of the seals,

Naude explained,

“Obviously, with them being so hungry, the big starvation at the moment, they’re going for whatever they can get. And obviously, you can see the bite marks. They grab the fish, shake it around. As he grabbed it and shook it around, it pricked him in the throat.”

The world of predator and prey is deeply fascinating, especially when the tables seemingly turn.

But what most people don’t see is the tragic reality behind these exciting discoveries: that the food chain gets mixed up because of mass starvation, marine debris, and other factors that pose extreme threats to the marine ecosystem.

What can we do?

Read up on marine conservation efforts and extend help within our capacities, which includes beach cleanup and raising awareness.

It takes effort and genuine concern for marine life, but collective action creates incredible progress.

Watch how the rescuers aid the starving seals in the video below!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: YouTube – Ocean Conservation Namibia, WWF