Hout Bay Seal Whisperer

The Hout Bay Seal Whisperer is a homeless man who has over time created a companionship with this Cape Fur Seal in the Hout Bay harbour in Cape Town. This homeless man earns money from donations of the visitors who are astounded by this special bond between human and animal.

The seal waits patiently for his companion, the man to cut up tidbits of fish for him to snack on.

At first the man holds the fish piece over the edge to pique the seals appetite.

And the seal gladly rises to accept the humble offering.

The man is brave enough to feed the seal from his mouth. This is not for people to try as it is dangerous and seals can inflict severe injury with their bites.

And for a finale the man climbs down the tyres to feed the seal from his mouth. Although officials frown on this behaviour as they say it makes the seal reliant on being fed and will therefore not feed himself.

It appears to us that there is a mutual benefit here, the homeless man gets love from his seal friend and the seal gets comfort from this man friend who spends time with him and shares some small snacks to show his caring.