Page 293 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Year No of seals harvested Lion’s Head, Bakers Bay
Age class
Immatures Bulls undisclosed Coordinates: 27.67 S; 15.52 E
Description: A mainland colony on a sandy beach within
1944 7,720 502 - Bakers Bay (opposite Sinclair Island). It is the southern-
1945 3,412 1,096 - most fur seal colony in Namibia. Numbers of Cape Fur
1946 4,608 859 - Seals at the colony have decreased since 2014 (Table 1).
1947 6,063 1,021 - Conservation status: The colony is fully protected as it
1949 3,918 - - falls within the Tsau //Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park
1950 4,642 417 - (MEFT 2020) as well as within NAMDEB, which restricts
1951 1,683 - - human access to the site.
Ecotourism: The colony is a study site for a project on
1952 1,642 567 - Brown Hyenas and has attracted filming organizations in-
1953 2,736 - - terested in capturing the interactions between this elusive
1954 2,514 497 - predator and Cape Fur Seals both at night and in daylight.
1955 2,728 - - In its development plan for 2020/21 to 2029/2030 the Di-
Shaughnessy (1984) rectorate of Wildlife for National Parks of Namibia’s MEFT
has earmarked Bakers Bay as a tourist attraction site for
Year No. harvested 4x4 adventures, mining history tours and visits to the fur
1973 454 seal colony (MEFT 2020). The Brown Hyena Project gath-
1975 4,222 ered data on the Brown Hyenas of Bakers Bay in support
of ecotourism at the site.
1976 4,294 Harvesting Status: The Lion’s Head colony was not har-
Shaughnessy (1978) vested since 1977 (Shaughnessy 1978) as it fell within a
NAMDEB and had restricted human access.

A view of northern Baker’s Bay showing the Lion’s Head mainland
seal colony (photo M Lemerle)

Cape Fur Seals at Sinclair Island showing the disused jetty in the
background (photo DB Tom)

African Penguins and Cape Fur Seals at Sinclair Island, August Cape Fur Seals and a Black-backed Jackal at the Lion’s Head
2022 (photo J-P Roux) colony, August 2022 (photo J-P Roux)

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