A DANCE WITH THE MERDOGS

A curious shape emerges within a forest of kelp. It comes closer, pivoting and pirouetting in a swirl of bubbles. Itʼs like watching a ballerina dance, performing on the stage of the cold Atlantic Ocean, a world tailored just for it. The shape is that of a Cape fur seal, a species of seal found only in Africa.

Thanks to their highly evolved bodies, these seals have an edge adjusting to changing environments, where climate change and marine pollution are on the rise. Not only are they graceful underwater dancers, theyʼre also an impressive motley crew of hunters. And with an estimated two million seals in their number, they span the coasts of