Seal Rescued After Getting Its Head Stuck in a G-String

By Stephen Messenger, TreeHugger

For any plump sea-faring animal, the ocean is a scary and foreboding place full of sharp-toothed predators looking for a tasty meal — but for one unlucky seal pup off the coast of New Zealand, the jaws of near-death were decidedly skimpier.

Last week, authorities from the NZ Department of Conservation were called out to a stretch of coastline known as Lover’s Leap after receiving reports of an animal in distress. When rescue crews arrived, they found a young seal which had gotten its head dangerously entangled in the most unlikely of ocean debris: a G-string.

Fortunately, DOC officer Jim Fyfe and his partner were able to wrangle the seal pup from the grip of that sexy swimwear — quite likely saving the animal’s life, while at the same time making for one of the team’s most memorable work stories.

“We got it early enough. Quite possibly, given that it was fabric, it would have rotted off, but you can never tell,” Fyfe tells Otago Daily Times. “We usually don’t have a second chance when people see things; if we leave it any length of time, the animal would be gone.”

Aside from the beachgoer presumably left bottomless by the missing swimwear, the story has a happy ending — after all, the seal seemed no worse for the wear from its G-string experience. But if the animal’s rescuers have their way, it gets better yet.

Due to the popularity of the seal’s scanty plight, the good folks at New Zealand’s Department of Conservation decided to donate the offending G-string to be auctioned by Our Far South, an organization aimed at preserving local fauna from threats of all shapes and sizes, with all proceeds going towards programs to protect imperiled wildlife.

“This item highlights the risk of rubbish entering into our oceans. As we saw in our Our Far South trip, rubbish from all over the world ends up in the Southern Ocean and on our subantarctic islands and threatens wildlife unnecessarily. Please discard of rubbish thoughtfully.”

Click here to check out the G-string’s auction page for your chance to own an important piece of skimpy, nearly lethal swimwear. Sure, it may be lightly used — but have you ever bought anything with such a seal of approval?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Nimue P.

4:46PM PST on Jan 6, 2013

Too many people just don't care that what they do affects animals. That seal was lucky, many aren't.

January 6
send a green star

Winn A.

8:42PM PDT on Sep 15, 2012

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

September 15
send a green star

Danuta W.

1:55AM PDT on Sep 15, 2012

Thank you for sharing.

Barbara E.

6:34AM PDT on Aug 15, 2012

Interesting and glad for the Save :-)

August 15
send a green star

Maria S.

1:04AM PDT on Aug 12, 2012

Glad seal pp is safe.

August 12
send a green star

Julie H.

9:54AM PDT on Aug 11, 2012

wow the girl who took her panties off at the beach is stupid.

August 11
send a green star

Phillipa W.

2:18AM PDT on Aug 11, 2012

thanks for the read. glad the seal is safe. I shudder to think what could have happened if it wasn't a material that would rot off, and was instead plastic or rope or something else and no-one helped him get it off

Sonny H.

11:09AM PDT on Aug 10, 2012

Nice rescue.