Shipping Not to Blame for Seal Deaths
New evidence has emerged that seal deaths around the UK’s coastal waters are the result of predatory behavior by grey seals, rather than ship propeller injuries, says UK Chamber of Shipping.
Sea Mammal Research Unit researchers observed a grey seal killing five young seals, leaving them with the distinctive spiral seal injuries that had previously been believed to be the result of shipping activity. Combined with recent similar evidence from Germany, this suggests such behavior may be more common and could explain the unusual clusters of injured seals found in UK waters.
David Balston, Director of Policy at the UK Chamber of Shipping said, “Whilst the horrific and often fatal injuries being inflicted on seal populations around our coast remains a cause for great concern, the recently published evidence that these were predominantly the result of attacks by other seals demonstrates why detailed and accurate science should drive the debate rather than raw emotion.
The shipping industry, including the UK Chamber of Shipping, continues to assist research and Government bodies in finding ways to limit the impact of shipping on the marine environment, but we strongly urge campaign and pressure groups to go where the evidence takes them. In this case, the evidence is increasingly strong that shipping is not to blame in the vast majority of cases.
In a press release from the Scottish Government, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead MSP said, “The clusters of corkscrew seal” deaths were unusual and worrying. In common with many of the creatures that live in our seas, seals are animals that are loved by the public. It is very important that we understand what caused these unusual deaths and we now have important evidence that natural predatory behavior is likely to be the main cause, rather than ship propeller injuries as we first thought. This provides some reassurance for the shipping industry”
