WATCH: 'Unusual' seal attacks leaves questions around suspicious seal behaviour

Clarence Ford speaks to Barbara Friedman about trending online stories. 

Roving surf reporter, Deon Bing interviewed some surfers recently who had reported an increase in seal 'attacks' along Muizenberg and Sunrise beach shores.

A common answer from interviewees was that the surfers aren't approaching these seals but the seals are swimming to shore to attack surfers and beach goers.

One surfer explained that they 'couldn't get away' during a seal attack.

Generally, this is 'very unusual behaviour' because 'seals only attack when they're protecting their young in a colony,' explains Friedman.

After a recent seal attack on Sunday, 26 May, the SPCA was contacted to remove the seal safely but by the time the organisation had arrived to take the seal into their care 'it was dead.' 

Friedman says the SPCA might conduct an autopsy to get to the bottom of this 'unusual behaviour.'

"It is a very strange phenomenon... it almost seems as though something's wrong with these seals now... maybe there's something they have ingested or something that's got into their blood system that's got too high and they behave very unusual and then they die... we don't know the answers but this is purely my view."

- Barbara Friedman, Barb's Wire 

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.