Seal Island (formerly known as ''Witte Klip'', meaning "White Rock") is a small land mass located off the northern beaches of

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans: ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarc ...

, near

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The island is so named because of the great number of

Cape fur seals The brown fur seal (''Arctocephalus pusillus''), also known as the Cape fur seal, and Afro-Australian fur seal, is a species of fur seal. Description The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust member of the fur seals. It has a large an ...

that occupy it. It is in area and home to 64,000 cape fur seals.

Brown fur seal The brown fur seal (''Arctocephalus pusillus''), also known as the Cape fur seal, and Afro-Australian fur seal, is a species of fur seal. Description The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust member of the fur seals. It has a large an ...

s also live on the island. The large population of seals on the island previously attracted

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...

s to live in abundance near the island, but their population in the area began to drop in 2010, and they had disappeared from the area by 2018. It is not entirely known why great white sharks disappeared from the area, but it is believed to have been caused by either

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

s or humans hunting them. The disappearance of great white sharks from the island caused the populations of broadnose sevengill sharks and seals to increase, as they lost their primary predator.

References

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External links

Surface Pursuit of a Cape Fur Seal by a White Shark at Seal Island.

from

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

's website Uninhabited islands of South Africa Geography of Cape Town Atlantic islands of South Africa