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: |
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/corkscrew-seals(d7fc791f-2dc9-4e10-b3bc-54d2515030c8).html https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/8958/1/Onoufriou_2016_PLoSONE_CorkscrewSeals_CC.pdf |
id |
ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/d7fc791f-2dc9-4e10-b3bc-54d2515030c8 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/d7fc791f-2dc9-4e10-b3bc-54d2515030c8 2024-06-23T07:55:08+00:00 Corkscrew seals:grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) infanticide and cannibalism may indicate the cause of spiral lacerations in seals Brownlow, Andrew Onoufriou, Joseph Bishop, Amanda Davison, Nicholas Thompson, Dave 2016-06-02 application/pdf https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/corkscrew-seals(d7fc791f-2dc9-4e10-b3bc-54d2515030c8).html https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/8958/1/Onoufriou_2016_PLoSONE_CorkscrewSeals_CC.pdf eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/corkscrew-seals(d7fc791f-2dc9-4e10-b3bc-54d2515030c8).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Brownlow , A , Onoufriou , J , Bishop , A , Davison , N & Thompson , D 2016 , ' Corkscrew seals : grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) infanticide and cannibalism may indicate the cause of spiral lacerations in seals ' , PLoS One , vol. 11 , no. 6 , e0156464 , pp. 1-14 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 article 2016 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 2024-06-13T00:52:56Z 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 University of St Andrews: Research Portal PLOS ONE 11 6 e0156464 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
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 |
Brownlow, Andrew Onoufriou, Joseph Bishop, Amanda Davison, Nicholas Thompson, Dave |
spellingShingle |
Brownlow, Andrew Onoufriou, Joseph Bishop, Amanda Davison, Nicholas Thompson, Dave Corkscrew seals:grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) infanticide and cannibalism may indicate the cause of spiral lacerations in seals |
author_facet |
Brownlow, Andrew Onoufriou, Joseph Bishop, Amanda Davison, Nicholas Thompson, Dave |
author_sort |
Brownlow, Andrew |
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 |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/corkscrew-seals(d7fc791f-2dc9-4e10-b3bc-54d2515030c8).html https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/8958/1/Onoufriou_2016_PLoSONE_CorkscrewSeals_CC.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Brownlow , A , Onoufriou , J , Bishop , A , Davison , N & Thompson , D 2016 , ' Corkscrew seals : grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) infanticide and cannibalism may indicate the cause of spiral lacerations in seals ' , PLoS One , vol. 11 , no. 6 , e0156464 , pp. 1-14 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156464 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/corkscrew-seals(d7fc791f-2dc9-4e10-b3bc-54d2515030c8).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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_ |
1802647586346106880 |