A rare, healthy crabeater seal found on the beach at Magwalana near Mpekweni on the Sunshine Coast — 6,000km from his Antarctica habitat — was in grave danger of being harmed by perlemoen poachers.

But two leading Eastern Cape scientists, coastal environment expert Kevin Cole, who is the principal scientist at the East London Museum, and Bayworld, Port Elizabeth, biologist and seal specialist Dr Greg Hofmeyr jumped in quickly...