Seal Island Boat Trip is available at the first stop of our Cape Point Private Tour. Join Drumbeat boat cruise to Duiker Island to see thousands of Cape Fur Seals in their natural environment and some of the most spectacular scenery the Cape Peninsula has to offer.
Seal Island Boat Trip
The vessel Drumbeat II is licensed to carry 118 passengers and has two toilets and a licensed bar on board.
While aboard you are surrounded with breath-taking scenery of the famous Chapmans Peak Drive and the Sentinel Mountain.
Drumbeat caters for local and international clients and has information leaflets about the seals available in 26 different languages.
Our boat is available for Private Charters throughout the year. Take a look at some of our suggested itineraries.
Join us on our 1 hour special to the ‘Seals & The Shipwreck‘ where you’ll visit Duiker Island home of the Cape Fur Seals and then travel further along the Kabonkelberg Mountain range to Moari Bay to view the Shipwreck of the Bos 400 which ran aground in 1994 in one of our Cape winter storms.
Seal Island Boat Trip - Cape Fur Seals
There are 35 species of seals in the world. Duiker Island is a Cape Fur Seal and bird sanctuary, home to thousands of seals and many birds such as the Cape Cormorant, the Bank Cormorants, Black Back Gulls, Kelp Gulls and Hartlaub Gulls.
Seal Island Boat Trip - Cape Fur Seal Breeding
Breeding is a continuous cycle and takes place in November/December in breeding colonies around the coastline of South Africa and Namibia. After fertilization there is a dormant period of 4 months and thereafter development continues, making the active gestation period 8 months. The pups are then born in late November early December. A cow usually only has one pup at a time when she reaches the breeding age which is 4-5 years old. She knows her pup by its smell and call and she will only mother her own offspring. Pups are entirely dependent on milk for the first 6 months. They are weaned between 8-10 months old.
Seal Island Boat Trip - Cape Fur Seal Growth time frame
They grow quickly and start to swim at 6 weeks old. By about 7 months they can spend 2-3 days at sea on their own and can already swim long distances. It has been noted that tagged seals have swum from Cape Town to Cape Cross in Namibia, a distance of 1600 kms at the age of 8 months. The Cape Fur Seal dives to a depth of 36m on average but diving abilities varies between species. Their ears and nostrils close tightly when they dive, and they cannot breathe underwater. Even while sleeping in the water they have to surface to breathe, every 10-15 minutes for young ones and 30 minutes for the adults.
