What's Eviscerating Britain's Seals?

[n2doc]

By Julia Whitty| Thu Aug. 19, 2010 3:43 PM PDT

Scores of dead seals are washing up on British shores eviscerated and skinned with ghastly corkscrew injuries, as if passed through a giant pencil sharpener, reports the UK's Daily Mail. Police and scientists are investigating the disturbing phenomenon.

In Scotland, the problem is bad enough to arouse concern over the survival of the common seal, which is no longer so common. From the Daily Mail:

Callan Duck, senior research scientist at the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at St Andrews University, said: "We simply don’t know what is causing this. We are finding seals coming ashore dead with these highly unusual lacerations right around their body like a spiral. From their head down they can have one or two complete revolutions to their abdomen. It is a continuous cut with a very smooth edge."

The injuries don't match any known killers such as fishing nets or boat propellers. Researchers believe they're mechanically produced by a rotating single blade, perhaps by the animals being sucked into the propeller blade of an as yet unidentified vessel. The bodies of more than 50 common and grey seals have been found on the Norfolk coast since November. Thirteen have so far been the subject of necropsies, but most were too mutilated to provide answers. In the Firth of Tay this summer, seven were found dead out of a breeding population of only 150.

more

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/08/whats-eviscerating-britains-seals

[hlthe2b]

1. Ohhh... I hope they find (and stop) whatever is doing this...

As important as these stories are, they devastate me...

[DeSwiss]

2. K&R

I was just about to post another story on this. Here's another take on these seal deaths from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/7951297/Scientists-investigate-seal-deaths-from-mysterious-injuries.html">The Telegraph. It seems that this is not the first time this has happened.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Tragic

Its great when you see the odd one in the River Thames especially if clever enough to negotiate Teddington Lock : http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2073070_marine_mammals_seal_of_approval_for_molesey

[Bigmack]

4. Gotta be a propellor injury...

of some kind. Maybe a low-speed hit rolls 'em over and spiral-slices them.

Surprised that anybody could hit one, tho.

Seals around here are way too fast to get hit.

[BonnieJW]

9. That's the first thing I thought of too.

[Xithras]

10. Yep, and there's a possibility that wind farms may be the culprit.

In a nutshell: All of the kill sites coincide with locations that either have wind farms offshore, or where they're being built. When wind turbines are being put up, the pilings are placed by giant barge ships that use ducted stationkeeping props...ELECTRIC ducted stationkeeping props that turn on and off almost instantly (they're computer controlled to detect drift and correct for it). Many of these ships don't have screens in place, because the shallow offshore waters are dense with seaweed which can plug them.

The theory is this: The barges make a lot of noise in the water, which attracts the naturally curious seals. The seals discover large numbers of fish around the barges, which are attracted by the structure (fish like anything that gives them cover). The seals swim around and underneath the barges to feed, and just to explore.

The computer detects the barge drifting, fires up a prop or three to correct its position, and the seals get sucked through.

It's just a theory at the moment, but it makes sense.

[phantom power]

11. ducted prop seems plausible

:(

[slampoet]

13. So it is Barges, not windfarms that are the problem.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Original Daily mail article with pictures

WARNING - one of the images is of a damaged seal. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303721/Corkscrew-deaths-seals-British-coast-baffling-scientists.html

The Mother Jones article also mentioned similar incident in Canada. Submarines ?

[cliffordu]

6. I'm betting on submarines.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Some kind of undersea corkscrew monster unknown to science.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AsahinaKimi]

12. Taking a wild guess

Giant Squid???

tentacles are lined with hundreds of sub-spherical suction cups, 2 to 5 centimetres (0.79 to 2.0 in) in diameter, each mounted on a stalk. The circumference of these suckers is lined with sharp, finely serrated rings of chitin. The perforation of these teeth and the suction of the cups serve to attach the squid to its prey. It is common to find circular scars from the suckers on or close to the head of sperm whales that have attacked giant squid.~~Wiki