Seal,s

[stamfordian]

As you are aware i do my boating on the east coast(wells);i have been dismayed recently by the number of dead seals floating in the water due to a bovine virus ,have seen 5 now on last two trips.Does this virus affect the seals in the south,around cornwall etc or is it just a local problem???.

http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/stamfordian

 

[BrendanS]

It seems to be a local outbreak on east coast at present, but it does the rounds of seal populations round the world....press reports from e.g. California every so often. Due to phocine distemper virus. Killed about 700 seals in Holland and Denmark earlier this year. Spread to UK east coast predicted and expected. Similar outbreak a few years back also spread to UK. Similar diseases have had same 'devastating' effects on seals for thousands of years, its all part of natural biological balances. Seal population will drop for a few years, then spring back.

People don't understand death in nature unless they study biology to advanced level. Residents near lake in mid Wales campaigned to have signs put up on road near lake warning of toads and frogs crossing due to number squashed on road during mating season (lots migrating). Also had mating season 'road patrols' where they would gather amphibians in buckets and move them across road to avoid squashing. Numbers that died on road was tiny fraction (like 0.00001 %) of population - reason for loads of frog spawn in lake is that millions of eggs laid so that v small number will make it to adulthood. Emotional context was that huge numbers of toads and frogs were becoming road kill. Biological impact was next to zero. Residents still got road signs and carried on with road patrols after impact was explained.

Environmental groups will claim dead seals due to stress and environmental factors. seals been peridodically dying in vast numbers for centuries. Sad, but not a problem unless populations go into huge decline ..depleted on east coast due to previous epidemic, but probably not a major problem yet

 

[Stingray]

According to the BBC program 'Countryfile' these seals are infected with a distemper type virus, which although it has not reached it's peak yet seems to be confined to the Norfolk coast.

 

[Stingray]

From their website -

'Fears of a return of a deadly infectious disease that wiped out most of the seal colonies off the north-east coast 14 years ago have been realised.

Five cases of phocine distemper virus have been confirmed in Norfolk, after two adults and three pups were found dead in The Wash. Experts are waiting for the results of tests on 20 other sick seal pups. This summer the virus has killed three thousand seals in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Holland and northern France have also been affected'.