The National Sea Rescue Institute and the City of Cape Town have appealed to divers and bathers in the Oudekraal area and along the Atlantic Seaboard to be cautious following an incident over the weekend where several divers were bitten by a seal at Oudekraal.

The divers who were treated for bite wounds included tourists from Portugal, Brazil and France, while a German tourist was not bitten. South Africans were also among the group.

It appears that a dive charter boat, with 4 crew and 8 adult divers, had arrived at Oudekraal on Saturday morning where the 8 divers entered the water to prepare to scuba dive.

According to reports, upon entering the water to prepare to begin scuba diving, a seal started to swim amongst the 8 divers and began biting the divers.

The boat crew were able to recover all 8 divers onto their boat and the alarm was raised.

The boat headed towards OPBC (Oceana Power Boat Club) with the injured divers onboard and requested medical care.

On the boat’s arrival 2 patients were treated by paramedics for bite puncture wounds – a Portuguese lady and a South African lady.

The Portuguese lady was transported to hospital in a stable condition by Netcare 911 ambulance.

The South African lady was assessed by paramedics and not requiring hospitalisation she was advised to attend an emergency room or a doctor for broad spectrum antibiotics, rabies and tetanus treatment, as a precaution.

A Brazilian man, a French lady, a French man and a South African man, who had sustained minor scrape bite wounds, were assessed by paramedics and not requiring hospitalisation they were was advised to attend at an emergency room or at a doctor for broad spectrum antibiotics, rabies and tetanus treatment, as a precaution.

A German man and a South African lady who had not been bitten required no further assistance.

The cause of the seals behaviour is unknown at this stage.

There have been instances before where seals have bitten bathers, and also instances where seals have been deliberately interfered with, prompting them to retaliate.

WATCH: Clifton seal ‘attack’ – Aggressive seals encountered elsewhere