Experts warn humans face danger from killer seals eating UK dolphins | UK | News
Marine researchers concluded that a gray seal fatally attacked a common dolphin off the Pembrokeshire coast; This is the first time such a kill has been confirmed in Welsh waters.
The body was reported washed ashore on Newgale beach in late February. Forensic examination revealed spiral lacerations around the dolphin’s midsection, consistent with a seal biting through the underlying layer of fat, exposing the underlying organs.
Seals along the sea between South Wales and the coasts of Devon and Cornwall are the prime suspects.
This fits the pattern along the British coastline. In early January, witnesses observed a gray seal holding a common dolphin in its jaws in the Irish Sea off Dublin. The agent is aware of two similar incidents in Devon waters before the end of the year. Investigators across the British Isles have reportedly linked 20 people to one such attack, each identified by a unique scar on their face.
Behavior propagation
Dave O’Connor, of Wolfhound Adventure Tours and the Irish and Whale Dolphin Group, said he watched the dolphins and witnessed “violent splashes” in the water, the Daily Mail reported.
“That’s when I realized something darker had grabbed him, and I realized it was probably a gray seal attack,” he said.
According to GB News, the concern among scientists is that this hunting technique may not remain with these individuals but spread.
“I think it will be taught,” said Marine Environmental Monitoring coordinator Mat Westfield. “I think it will be a slow process, but we will see more and more.”
These 20 animals almost certainly represent a fraction of the total. According to the report, Dr. from the University of St Andrews. Izzy Langley called the documented figure a “massive underestimation”; Seals displaying the same behavior have appeared from the North Sea to the German coastline.
population explosion
Britain’s gray seal population tells its own story. A century of hunting had reduced numbers to about 500 by the early twentieth century. The population has since grown to around 120,000.
Scientists trace the origins of dolphin hunting to something closer: cannibalism.
Male seals compete fiercely to find a mate between September and January and are left without food during this period. Research shows that some begin to target the young as a food source, breaking down the fat under the skin and continuing on their way without consuming the rest. Scottish researchers who tracked the behavior for a decade are said to have noted that the rate of gray seal cannibalism doubled and then some increased between 2015 and 2016. The behavior was first observed in Canadian waters off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1992.
coastal trap
Seals cannot be compared to dolphins in open water; dolphins are much faster. But the dolphins show little sign that they see the seals as a threat, leaving them in a poor position to react when an attack comes. This vulnerability has been exacerbated by a fundamental shift in where dolphins are located.
Sea Trust Wales records reported by GB News show common dolphin sightings off the Welsh coast have increased eightfold in the last eight years. Overfishing has led to stocks in deeper waters being hollowed out and animals being pulled ashore. As they approach the coast, with cliffs on one side and beaches on the other, they have little room for maneuver.
Marine mammal expert Dr. from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. “It’s like walking into a fast food restaurant,” Sophie Brasseur told reporters.
Animals are not without danger to humans either. “Half the people I know who work with seals are missing part of their finger,” Cliff Benson, founder of Sea Trust Wales, told The Telegraph. “If you get bitten, the bacteria on the teeth is so bad it usually means amputation rather than just putting a bandage on it.”
Marine mammal researcher Dr. from Utrecht University. Lonneke L IJsseldijk said the shift from targeting smaller porpoises to larger dolphins showed “the adaptive and exploratory behavior of gray seals”.
