A Seagull's Tale of Perseverance, How a Fishing Hook Led to an Unlikely Rescue
Last Friday 9 February, just as the team at Just Africa Scuba was busy locking up for the day, shop manager Mari van Wyk and owner Marius Wolfaardt noticed something dangling from a lamp post across the street from our dive centre in Gordon's Bay, Cape Town. Upon closer inspection, to their horror, they saw that hanging from the lampost was a seagull in distress. He had a fishing hook stuck in his beak and somehow got entangled on the top of the lamppost.
The poor bird had already tired to such a degree that it was just hanging, barely able to keep flapping its wings. It was clear by this first assessment, that the situation was dire and immediate action was necessary.
True to our slogan, "We Protect What We Love," our team immediately jumped into action.
"I can't just leave the poor thing. We can't call ourselves a conservation centre if we ignore nature's call for help," said Mari van Wyk, watching the trapped bird's partner circling the pole as if to try and help him.
Mari proceeded to phone every organisation she could think of from the fire department to all the different welfare organisations in the area. But to no avail. It was late Friday afternoon and most places were already closed for the day.
After numerous failed attempts to receive assistance, we realised it was time to take matters into our own hands.
Marius phoned one of our instructors, JJ Engelbrecht, who was at home at the time, and asked whether he had a long ladder. He did not have one, but said he would come through anyway to see if he could help.
In the meantime, Mari went to collect a ladder at home.
JJ arrived on the scene, they saw the height of the lamp pole (around 10 to 12 meters high) and realised that a ladder wouldn't have helped.
After quickly discussing it with Marius, they decided the best course of action would be to scale the pole and cut the bird loose. JJ felt confident that he could make the climb as he regularly did rock climbing and other adventure activities.
With a dive knife in hand, he swiftly climbed up the pole. Once he reached the top, he cut the hook off and within seconds the seagull took off into the distance.
"This just goes to show that every little bit can make a difference," said Marius.
If there is one thing we can take away from this event, it's that our actions impact all life around us.
It is our job to be mindful of our environment and what we leave behind, we need to take action to protect it. If every person does their small part, big things can be achieved.
https://youtube.com/shorts/F9AFUKsQ83M?si=6De1pUWxSebRHgbR
We Protect what we Love. Join the movement!
*Warning‼
Disclaimer: please don’t try this without proper training and fitness. No humans were harmed in making this video.
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