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The Shining World Compassion Award: Savior of Seals - Francois Hugo, Founder of Seal Alert South Africa, P1/2
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Everywhere in the world,
we can observe
and be touched
by acts of kindness.
People from all walks of
life, faiths, and cultures
extend themselves
beyond the call of duty
to help others
unconditionally.
Through their noble deeds,
humanity as a whole
is elevated.
To commend
virtuous actions and
encourage more people
to be inspired
by their examples,
Supreme Master
Ching Hai
has lovingly created
a series of awards,
including the Shining
World Leadership
Award, Shining World
Compassion Award,
Shining World Hero and
Heroine Awards, Shining
World Honesty Award,
Shining World Protection
Award, Shining World
Intelligence Award,
and Shining World
Inventor Award,
to recognize some
of the most exemplary,
generous, caring,
and courageous people
who walk amongst us.
The sound
of undulating waves
engulfs one’s senses
in the rhythmic heartbeat
of the majestic ocean.
Within the water,
the seals inhabit this
ethereal, marine realm.
Graceful, aquatic acrobats,
these precious creations
of God,
are in perfect communion
with the divine
in their oceanic world.
They are full of emotions;
they respond to you;
they answer your calls.
Although
they are wild seals
they behave as intimately
as any animal that you’ve
ever encountered would.
How could anyone
have the heart to harm
these noble beings?
This is a question
that Mr. Francois Hugo
asks himself every day
as he saves the lives
of numerous seals
in his native South Africa
as well as in Namibia.
These animals function
exactly like us humans.
They think
for themselves,
they think what is right;
they think what is wrong
for them.
And when they see
other people around them
helping them, understand.
And you have to
believe in that.
For five million years,
the Cape Fur seals
or South African seals
have lived
in their natural habitat
on islands off the coast
of the African continent.
However,
within the last 600 years,
humans have drastically
reduced the population
of these seals and
endangered the species’
continued existence.
Seal Alert
represents seals and
the Cape Fur seal species.
It’s the only species
of seal breeding
on the African continent.
It’s been subjected
to many, many centuries
of abuse, and my job
is to reverse that abuse,
and to get them back
on the evolutionary path
and in so doing,
protect them and
save them for the future.
Founded in 1999
by Francois Hugo,
Seal Alert South Africa is
a pioneering seal rescue
organization that takes
a hands-on approach to
addressing the cruelty to
and abuse of seals through
advocacy, campaigns,
and introduction
of legislation.
Seal Alert
also investigates
the injustices done to seals
as well as rescues and
rehabilitates the animals,
successfully transitioning
them back to the wild.
Seal Alert’s mission has
been for the last ten years
to do everything
in its power
to protect the species
and to ensure they
survive into the future.
Therefore
I investigate all aspects
that affect seals and
I undertake all activities
to try and protect
and save them, which
is addressing sealing,
over-fishing,
debris in the water,
the rescue of seals,
how to understand
the species, (and)
what basically they need
to survive.
The organization
is a reflection
of Mr. Hugo’s dedication
and heartfelt devotion
towards the seals.
Basically
I’ve lived amongst
wild colonies of seals
for the last ten years.
As many people would
come home to their family,
seals are my family.
I have probably raised
5000 of them.
I live and breathe them,
I think about them,
I sleep about them,
they are as much part
of my life
as the air that I breathe.
Mr. Hugo’s commitment
to the welfare of the seals
is truly laudable.
Where did this passion
for these marine
mammals originate?
I’ve been in the water
my entire life.
I’ve actually spent
more time underwater
than on land.
And I saw seals,
as just fish in the water
and an animal
that didn’t need help.
And one seal
then caught my attention;
he was dying
and he was entangled
and that little seal
I named Sweetie, and that
seal basically awakened
my whole eyesight
to their problem.
And from
that minute onwards,
I have never left seals
in the next 10 years.
It’s been continuous;
as soon as
he was rehabilitated,
the next seal arrived and
so the next seal came on.
Cape Fur seals
are unique in that
they need both the sea
as well as land to survive.
Over time, they began to
inhabit offshore islands
where they have found
relative safety in order
to thrive as a species.
Those islands have become
colonies or rookeries,
but those are basically
seals’ homes.
It’s a whole
12-month process,
almost like humans
live in a house, seals
will come to that colony
and leave from the colony,
but they always
come back to rest,
to molt, to breed, to mate
and to feed their young.
So it’s very important
these communities
that seals have.
And they’ve evolved in
very special ways where
the bulls take care of
the whole family as such,
the females are then
moved into groups of
between one and 60 cows
to a bull.
The pups
are all born together
so the pups grow up
as siblings on the colony
and they all
interact with each other.
And it’s a continual hive
of activity
where each is actually
looking after his own,
but at the same time each
seal becomes an individual.
After these brief messages,
we’ll continue with
today’s program featuring
the benevolent
Francois Hugo,
founder of
Seal Alert South Africa.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
That bull you see sitting
up there in the middle,
was my first baby rescued,
eight years ago.
The one I’ve managed
to be successful with,
he was raised in my house
and he watched television,
and he is adopted this raft
and everything
that is on it as his colony.
He is the alpha male
on that colony now.
He’s actually the first
Cape Fur seal baby
ever hand-raised in
the history of South Africa.
Thank you for joining us
for today’s program
on the Shining World
Compassion laureate
Francois Hugo,
the founder of
Seal Alert South Africa.
Three-hundred sixty-five
days of the year,
Mr. Hugo is on call
and at all hours.
Annually,
he rescues approximately
1,000 Cape Fur seals.
His devotion stems
from his awareness that
each animal is a living,
breathing sentient being
that deserves
the right to live.
From the very first seal,
10 years ago, I’ve never
left the seals for one day.
Never had a day off,
never had a night off,
never gone away.
If I have to leave the farm
for Namibia,
I come here four o’clock
in the morning, feed them,
get on the plane at six,
and am back here
that evening.
Whether you’re in
a meeting or discussion,
a life is at stake,
you drop everything;
that becomes important.
The seals’ lives
are in grave danger
due to human activities
which infringe upon
their natural way of life.
They have been
driven away
from the large islands
they have called home
for centuries.
The seals in turn are living
on basically awash rocks.
In context, 98%
of their original habitat
is completely banned
and extinct to them.
The 2% that they are
living on is divided
over a total coastline area
of over 2,000 kilometers.
So, for example,
each seal colony
is now living on less than
1 hectare of a rock
off the coastline
of South Africa.
And what is upsetting
to a species like that
is that they are living
on a rock that gets
completely awash,
where every six hours
they are being
submerged in,
or every 12 hours
with the high tides
they are being submerged,
they’re wet,
they are being forced
to remain cold.
This goes on
throughout the year.
And less than a few meters
or kilometers away
there’s the perfect habitat
that used
to be their homeland
is (now) banned to them.
Seal populations have
also been decimated by
Namibia’s sealing industry.
The commercial
fishing industry
is a threat to the lives
of seal pups as well.
In the case of Cape Fur
seals, by causing them
to flee north, they've
moved 2,000 kilometers
north of their range.
They’re now in double
their temperature ranges,
in water and on land.
Since 1994,
we've had several
major mass starvations
where all the pups
have starved to death.
These are
all the imbalances
that man’s creating
for the species.
Man has subjected them
to living
on these awash rocks;
the babies are struggling
to try and survive, most
will wash off and drown.
If they're not being
clubbed up in Namibia,
which they club
every little seal that's left,
then they're getting shot
by the fishing industry.
So for a seal in our waters,
life is very hard.
Despite their aquatic skills
as adults, seal pups
are relatively helpless
in their first year of life.
Their struggle
for survival is
a heart-wrenching tale.
The mothers
have to raise their babies
knowing their babies
are going to drown
when the perfect island
lies literally
meters away from them.
This is
the kind of absurdity
that mankind has created
in the natural world
and the environment
off our coastline.
Facing all these hazards,
many seals get washed
ashore injured
and barely alive.
With fate on their side,
they will be rescued
and nursed back to health
by the loving Mr. Hugo.
A successful rehabilitation
takes place
after 12 months
if there's a bond between
the pup and myself,
a mother and pup bond.
That is
the only way it works.
And then
that bond stays with you
for the rest of your life.
Whenever
you see each other,
you are inseparable,
you are bonded for life
after that.
I've had seals
that you rescue
on a particular month
in the year, and they
were obviously involved
in their migratory path,
either going north
or south, traveling many,
many kilometers away.
And because each year,
they’ll be back on
that same migratory path,
then they will stop in
at my facilities and
then they greet you and
they spend a week or two
with you
and then off they go back
in the annual cycle.
The thousands
of successful seal rescues
are a testimony
to Mr. Hugo’s long hours
of hard work and
especially devoted love.
Every seal you form unique
and amazing bonds with.
But particularly
with the babies
because you become
their adopted parent,
they become your family
and your children.
And we’ve had,
for example,
my very first one, which
was raised in my house,
I never had facilities.
I mean, he used to
watch television with me.
When I had to type reports,
he’d be sitting in my lap
typing reports.
So he was
almost a pet seal.
To have
such an inner connection
with these noble
animal co-inhabitants is
undoubtedly a privilege and
unforgettable experience.
Learning of
Mr. Hugo’s concern
and benevolent heart
for the seals,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
made a US$200,000
contribution to further
his seal protection work
and later honored him
with the Shining World
Compassion Award.
Please join us
next Thursday
for the second episode
of this two-part
Shining World
Compassion Award series
featuring the presentation
of the Award to Mr. Hugo
and more about
Seal Alert South Africa’s
valiant efforts.
For more details on
Seal Alert South Africa,
please visit
Or contact
Francois Hugo at
Thank you loving viewers
for your company today
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
May the universal power
of love permeate your life.
We saw that there was
a need in the community
and people that just
seemed to be losing hope.
Geoffrey Nighswonger
and Genesis Williams
of Los Angeles, USA
founded H.A.N.D.S.
On International to share
love, friendship and hope
with the homeless
and others in need.
Every single Sunday,
rain or shine,
we basically
cook for them and
we give away clothes
and then we talk to them,
and we hang out with them,
and just show them
that we love them.
To find out more about
the benevolent work
of these
kind-hearted angels,
please watch Part 1 of
“H.A.N.D.S.
On International –
Helping All Nations
in Deeds and Service”
this coming Sunday,
January 10 on
Good People, Good Works.
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