Ocean Conservation Namibia

It Started With a Seal In Trouble

Naude Dreyer and his wife Katja once made their living running kayaking tours along Namibia’s coast. One day, while paddling near a massive seal colony, Naude saw a seal dragging tangled fishing net. He managed to pull the animal to shore and cut it free — saving its life. That single rescue opened his eyes. “I realized there was no hope for these animals if someone didn’t intervene,” he says. Over time, the rescues became frequent, the problem impossible to ignore.

From Kayaks to Global Training

By 2019, Naude was freeing 200–250 seals a year. But the goal was never just rescue — it was to use the seals’ plight to highlight the global crisis of marine pollution. “The seal rescues are just to put a face on a much bigger problem,” he explains. In the early days, he relied on a kayak paddle and a towel. Now, with specialized nets capable of safely capturing seals weighing up to 500 pounds, OCN rescues nearly 1,000 animals annually. Their techniques are so effective that rescuers from as far as Alaska have trained with them to replicate the process.

Data, Education and Action

Every rescue is logged with detailed information about the entanglement material. This open-source database is used by scientists worldwide to study plastic movement and its impact on wildlife. OCN also runs school programs to reach the next generation. “We’ve got an education officer. So we’re doing a lot of school outreach. We need to get to the kids. They’re the future. They’re the ones who have to deal with all the shit that we caused,” Naude says. “People need to change their relationship to plastic. We’ve become way too dependent on it as a society on plastic. It’s too easy. It’s too cheap.”

While Namibia’s seals are abundant — about 1.6 million strong — the threats they face are mirrored worldwide. Fishing gear, plastic packaging, and discarded rope kill slowly and cruelly. “It’s terrible what’s happening with commercial fisheries in the ocean. These super trawlers chuck out 60 % of its bycatch and just completely messed up the ocean floor. Know the source of your food and the impacts of it.”

Looking Ahead

OCN hopes to expand its training programs to other coastal regions and remote islands, sharing equipment, skills, and knowledge. The rescues may start with a single seal — but the ultimate goal is a healthier ocean.

“No animal should have to die slowly, painfully from being strangled to death by a piece of fishing line.”