Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals.
Large numbers of dead seals with characteristic spiral lesions have been washing ashore around the North Atlantic over the past two decades. Interactions with ship propellers and shark predation have been suggested as the likely causal mechanisms. However, new evidence points towards a more likely c...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://doaj.org/article/bc9544f855c141e8840b6dfa6eef3d4f |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bc9544f855c141e8840b6dfa6eef3d4f |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bc9544f855c141e8840b6dfa6eef3d4f 2023-05-15T17:33:04+02:00 Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals. Andrew Brownlow Joseph Onoufriou Amanda Bishop Nicholas Davison Dave Thompson 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://doaj.org/article/bc9544f855c141e8840b6dfa6eef3d4f EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4890781?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://doaj.org/article/bc9544f855c141e8840b6dfa6eef3d4f PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 6, p e0156464 (2016) Medicine R Science Q article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 2022-12-31T01:50:13Z Large numbers of dead seals with characteristic spiral lesions have been washing ashore around the North Atlantic over the past two decades. Interactions with ship propellers and shark predation have been suggested as the likely causal mechanisms. However, new evidence points towards a more likely candidate: grey seal predation. An adult male grey seal was observed and recorded catching, killing and eating five weaned grey seal pups over a period of one week on the Isle of May, Scotland. A further 9 carcasses found in the same area exhibited similar injuries. Post mortem analysis of lesions indicated the wound characteristics were similar to each other and in 12 of the 14 carcasses analysed, were indistinguishable from carcasses previously attributed to propeller interaction. We therefore propose that most of the seal carcasses displaying spiral lacerations in the UK are caused by grey seal predation. Cases in other locations should be re-evaluated using the scoring system presented here to identify whether grey seal predation is a major cause of mortality in phocid seals. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 11 6 e0156464 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Andrew Brownlow Joseph Onoufriou Amanda Bishop Nicholas Davison Dave Thompson Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Large numbers of dead seals with characteristic spiral lesions have been washing ashore around the North Atlantic over the past two decades. Interactions with ship propellers and shark predation have been suggested as the likely causal mechanisms. However, new evidence points towards a more likely candidate: grey seal predation. An adult male grey seal was observed and recorded catching, killing and eating five weaned grey seal pups over a period of one week on the Isle of May, Scotland. A further 9 carcasses found in the same area exhibited similar injuries. Post mortem analysis of lesions indicated the wound characteristics were similar to each other and in 12 of the 14 carcasses analysed, were indistinguishable from carcasses previously attributed to propeller interaction. We therefore propose that most of the seal carcasses displaying spiral lacerations in the UK are caused by grey seal predation. Cases in other locations should be re-evaluated using the scoring system presented here to identify whether grey seal predation is a major cause of mortality in phocid seals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andrew Brownlow Joseph Onoufriou Amanda Bishop Nicholas Davison Dave Thompson |
author_facet |
Andrew Brownlow Joseph Onoufriou Amanda Bishop Nicholas Davison Dave Thompson |
author_sort |
Andrew Brownlow |
title |
Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals. |
title_short |
Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals. |
title_full |
Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals. |
title_fullStr |
Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Corkscrew Seals: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Infanticide and Cannibalism May Indicate the Cause of Spiral Lacerations in Seals. |
title_sort |
corkscrew seals: grey seal (halichoerus grypus) infanticide and cannibalism may indicate the cause of spiral lacerations in seals. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://doaj.org/article/bc9544f855c141e8840b6dfa6eef3d4f |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 6, p e0156464 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4890781?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://doaj.org/article/bc9544f855c141e8840b6dfa6eef3d4f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e0156464 |
_version_ |
1766131434798448640 |