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Hundreds of dead seals in Labrador (Canada)
Sympatico.ca ^
| 17/01/2011 11:01:32 AM
| CBC News
Posted on 01/17/2011 10:50:11 AM PST by The Comedian
People on the north coast of Labrador say scores of dead seals have been washing ashore since early December.
A conservation officer with the area's Inuit government estimated late last week that hundreds of adult and young seals have died in the area between Hopedale and Makkovik this winter.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is testing the carcasses, but Nunatsiavut conservation officer Ian Winters said many people in the area believe DFO hasn't acted quickly enough.
"I think they should have been up here earlier, if you're asking me. A lot of people said the same thing. So, maybe it's not on top of their agenda," he said.
Usually at this time of year seals are on sea ice south of Hopedale, said Winters, but he said there is very little ice there now.
Last month, people in northern Labrador found the bodies of dead seal pups on the coast.
At the time, a federal seal researcher said the early birth of seal pups in Labrador may be an indication the area's seal population has grown too large.
DFO researcher Garry Stenson said that seal population growth could lead to reproductive problems.
"What you expect in a population that is starting to regulate itself are things like lower reproductive rates and variable reproductive rates, but also higher pup mortality and also higher juvenile mortality," he said Monday in St. John's.
Stenson said the harp seal population of Atlantic Canada is now at between eight and nine million. A 2004 assessment of seal stocks estimated the harp seal population in the area at between 4.6 and 7.2 million.
Stenson said the DFO received five reports of seals giving birth on the coast of Labrador in December, although the nomadic sea mammals normally give birth in late February or early March.
He said the early births are happening on land rather than ice floes and it's unlikely the newborn pups will survive.
TOPICS: Agriculture; Pets/Animals; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: animal; catastrophism; dieoff; massdying; seal
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To: SunkenCiv; Clive
Thanks for the ping, Civ.
Canada ping Clive.
21
posted on
01/17/2011 12:33:45 PM PST
by
fanfan
(Why did they bury Barry's past?)
To: G Larry; All
If warming is producing very little sea ice, and the pups are not suspected to survive if birthed on land, and if they are being born months earlier than usual, then it can’t possibly be global warming, it is only temporary weather conditions.
To: humblegunner
Read the title, pictured a fat retriever dog... Me too.
That's exactly why I appended "(Canada)".

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
23
posted on
01/17/2011 12:47:08 PM PST
by
The Comedian
("Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" - B. Goldwater)
To: abb
24
posted on
01/17/2011 1:12:37 PM PST
by
null and void
(We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
25
posted on
01/17/2011 1:31:17 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
To: null and void
Oooooohhhh! Scary!!
Quick! I need chocolate!!
26
posted on
01/17/2011 1:35:13 PM PST
by
Monkey Face
(Tagline space for rent. Inquire within.)
To: Monkey Face
For your FReeping pleasure...
27
posted on
01/17/2011 1:39:13 PM PST
by
null and void
(We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
To: null and void
Oh, my!
Something I can touch and eat too!
You rock, Nully! Thanks!
28
posted on
01/17/2011 1:40:37 PM PST
by
Monkey Face
(Tagline space for rent. Inquire within.)
To: Monkey Face
I’ve always got something you can touch and eat too...
29
posted on
01/17/2011 1:42:20 PM PST
by
null and void
(We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
To: null and void
I d n’t like th se. Mine seems t have a fe keys g ne.
To: The Comedian
First fish, frogs and birds, now cows and seals.
Not liking this.
31
posted on
01/17/2011 1:45:04 PM PST
by
txhurl
To: null and void
32
posted on
01/17/2011 1:48:20 PM PST
by
txhurl
To: Billthedrill; null and void
*munch-munch*
Wha’? *chew*
What key are mi ing?
*slurp*
33
posted on
01/17/2011 1:49:51 PM PST
by
Monkey Face
(Tagline space for rent. Inquire within.)
To: txhurl
Bacon?One should always carry an emergency pork products supply kit...
34
posted on
01/17/2011 1:51:52 PM PST
by
null and void
(We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
To: null and void
Why don’t I have one of those?
35
posted on
01/17/2011 1:53:44 PM PST
by
Monkey Face
(Tagline space for rent. Inquire within.)
To: Monkey Face
You’re not a former Boy Scout?
36
posted on
01/17/2011 1:54:38 PM PST
by
null and void
(We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
To: null and void
Um..no...but I knew lots of them...
They never gave me fun things like that, though...
37
posted on
01/17/2011 2:00:14 PM PST
by
Monkey Face
(Tagline space for rent. Inquire within.)
To: txhurl
Yup, as you ascend the food chain, we're next.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
38
posted on
01/17/2011 2:01:02 PM PST
by
The Comedian
("Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" - B. Goldwater)
To: Monkey Face
They never gave me fun things like that, though...I'm not even going to ask.
39
posted on
01/17/2011 2:02:06 PM PST
by
null and void
(We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
To: null and void

And the ancilliaries.
40
posted on
01/17/2011 2:08:43 PM PST
by
txhurl
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