Cape Town’s beloved roaming Elephant seal has arrived safely at Kalk Bay Harbour. The gentle giant was spotted far from the sea, wandering down Sir Lowry’s Pass Road in Gordon’s Bay. A delicate and coordinated team of vets rescued the creature.
City officials, the SPCA and conservation teams, the 1.2-ton seal was gently sedated, stretchered onto a trailer and safely released back into the ocean at Steenbras Nature Reserve.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2025 morning, the Elephant Seal swam into Kalk Bay Harbour, happy, healthy and made waves in local media. The incredible team efforts of vets showed their power of compassion, collaboration and community.
View this post on Instagram
The City of Cape Town officially extended their gratitude to the teams and every pair of hands helped this majestic creature find his way home. They explained that it is their duty to protect and respect the wildlife.
It was first shared by the Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis on his official instagram handle and captioned that, “Only in Cape Town will you see such…Amazing work being done by the @capespca and @cityofct Marine Unit to safely return this Elephant Seal roaming the streets of Gordon’s Bay back to the sea.”
View this post on Instagram
Mayor Lewis later shared another post with images while rescuing the sea creature and wrote, “Cape Town’s favourite seal is back at sea. Thanks to the SPCA and City of Cape Town teams.”
View this post on Instagram
Another source, Ocean Ecstasea also shared a relevant update over ongoing viral news of Elephant seal Escapades. It explained, “Made a reel for all of those who asked! Some of the moments from yesterday’s wild day relocating Gordon the elephant seal.”
“So yesterday a sub-adult male southern elephant seal, decided he wanted to go on a wobble through Gordonsbay. I received a message at 6:00 a.m. with photos of him in the Main Road, I decided I had to go through. Picked up Tsepo Mpanza and some Shark Spotters and we headed through,” continued the source.
View this post on Instagram
Ocean Ectasea added that on arrival they met with a strange sight, the seal had hauled even further up the road and was at that stage about 700m from the sea. The seal was about 3.5m long and weighed 1.5ton. Pretty large for a sub adult animal.
The Source also mentioned that, this is not the first elephant seal to visit Falsebay, but what made it strange was the time of year and the distance he moved from the sea. Being native to Marion and a few other Southern Islands they are about 2500km from home in the Cape. Usually some elephant seals haul out to moult during the hot summer months on Western Cape beaches so this winter haul out was a little odd.
Furthermore, it was incredible to see all the stakeholders come together to devise a game plan for relocation. By luck 3 experience elephant seal handlers have just returned from Marion island after a 14month trip this weekend. So they were so lucky to have them come through and guide Gordon into the trailer. It was really incredible to watch the sealers gently and guide such a huge animal into the trailer with only sticks.
Once Gordon was lifted into the trailer by a team of almost 20, he was then secured and escourted to Kogelbay beach. Watching how excited he was to be back on the beach was really special to see. He would wobble 5m and then rest for 5minutes until he made it all the way to the ocean.
“It’s really special to see so many different people from different organisations and walks of life come together to help a single animal. Days like yesterday just make me realise what a special place South Africa is. We only have one planet and need to be the custodians of all life on this magical planet,” expressed Ocean Ecstasea.
Later, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis also shared a post that considered a popular influencer Daiy, who acknowledged the Cape Town Mayor for using his voice for the first information of Elephant Seal shared on his page.
View this post on Instagram
Mayor Lewis captioned the video with, “Daiy, you’re out here cracking us up! Danko for the vibes.”
According to the City of Cape Town, the elephant seal is rescue and has safely returned to the place where he actually belongs. May he live a long and healthy life, wishes Capetonians.