'Corkscrew' seal deaths probed

'Corkscrew' seal deaths probed

www.bbc.co.uk

Each of the carcasses had a single, smooth-edged cut which started at the head and spiralled around the body.

Experts said it was not known what had caused the "corkscrew" injuries, which were not consistent with fishing nets or boat propellers.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
deadlinescotland.wordpress.com
www.google.com

[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303239/Mystery-corkscrew-kills-dozens-Scottish-seals.html?ito=feeds-newsxml]www.dailymail.co.uk[/http: //news.scotsman.com/uk/Scientists-investigate-mystery-of-dead.6475777.jpurl]

news.scotsman.com...

[edit on 15-8-2010 by wigit]

I'm baffled by this. What on earth could cause a spiral cut around these animals bodies? I haven't found any pics yet but the descriptions, (if they're accurate and not an exaggeration) are puzzling. Some are saying they're actually being skinned in a spiral cut, others just mention the cut.

I'd imagine an animal would have to be lifted up by the head or tail and whatever the cutting instrument is, would have to be moved round and round the body, or the seal would have to be spun. Could it just be down to some nasty fishermen? They'd have the lifting equipment, certainly.

Any thoughts?

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 15-8-2010 by wigit]

Another link with a bit more info.

www.heraldscotland.com...

"Seals with similar injuries have also been found on beaches in Canada over the last decade."

All the carcasses display one long, smooth cut that spirals around the head and body. It is thought the seal would have to have been rotated against a giant blade to receive the wound.

reply to post by wigit





Except to cause horrific pain and suffering, perhaps the evil aliens are using seal skin for DNA experiments.
But they have had thousands of years to do this, why now?

reply to post by wigit


I saw a show about this a while back and these spiral cuts were the result of the seal spinning to escape orca or shark attacks.

The seal has a choice to be bitten and die for certain or spin somewhat like an alligator or crocodile and have a chance to survive.

reply to post by Violater1


Or maybe they just need it, like on a regular basis, 'cos their old skins have run out? The word HARVEST does come to mind.

Whatever animal's getting mutilated, they always leave the body. I wonder why they do that? That has to be answered too.

Maybe it's some sort of marine parasite? Like, it might move in a circular or corkscrew pattern itself creating a corkscrew like pattern on the seals? I dont know why it wouldnt have been found earlier on though?? Could it be a mutation of something else? Maybe it's original food source has gotten scarce and they've had to move to a different source? Maybe the waters around that area are different in some way allowing them to travel towards the surface? Maybe a new disease or a form of bacteria??

Seals do have a natural spinning manoeuvre when you see them swimming underwater catching fish.

Could it not be underwater debris like maybe fishing hooks that they are getting caught up in and they die tying to free them selves? - An unusual number of these could simply be a popular hang out is the location of the, well whatever litter is ripping them up.

Maybe they already have some clues?

A total of 38 seals bearing distinctive corkscrew wounds have now been found on beaches in Fife, as well as in Norfolk, in the past year. The injuries are so severe that marine biologists say the seals look as if they had been put through a giant pencil sharpener.

Thompson added: “The seals died quickly from their wounds. It looks as they were drawn or pushed past some sort of mechanical device, which caused deep tissue injury. The skin and blubber layer has been reamed off. A spiral flap of flesh has come off all the animals. Although some seals were killed by a skull injury, there are no other bone injuries or deep wounds.

It looks like someones got a nasty contraption attached to their boat, doesn't it?

The Greenland shark is the ansewer. They have wierd jaws and the spiral is the telltale sign of a Greenland Shark feeding.

A new design for water propellant, similar to the new bladeless fan, that has 1 'fin/blade' on the interior of a cylinder that moves in a spiral from the front interior (intake) to the rear. the cylinder is big enough for seals to swim through, and has a suction-type pull. Probably being used on subsurface vessels and/or air to marine craft as it can be used to propell air as well.

The Temp's opinion.

how about fishing lines? like nets? maybe some unscrupulous fisherman has put hooks and razors on the nest to geta better yeild at teh expense of mangaling animals?

Clearly a problem for the seal in question.

However, recent studies have found that common seals in Scotland have been impacted by an increase in killer whale predation which has increased as the population of seals has generally increased throughout Britain. The effects of predation are confined to Northern Scotland and the Islands (e.g. Orkney).

I would agree with posters who have already pointed it out that orca activity is to blame. I would further hazard a guess that the increase in corpses being washed ashore is merely down to prevailing weather.

No doubt some pressure groups who are vigorously opposed to the shooting of seals will cite this as some terrible human imposed torture device and over state the decline in common seal numbers, which as a population has increased around British waters.

Just like to say that I was seal watching on Jura only last week.

Regards

reply to post by Tempest333


Your thinking is along the lines of mine on this; I was envisioning a silent running submarine with a "caterpillar" drive like in "Hunt for Red October".

The seals could be sucked through and skinned by a screw-type impeller.

reply to post by 1SawSomeThings


It would have to be silent. The seals, like with other motorized boats, would avoid them if they weren't?? Could it be completely silent? No water disturbance? Wouldnt it make some sort of noise, being a motor of some sort?

The whole point of the caterpillar drive is that its silent, but not even a seal can detect it??
I dont think so, but the fact remains that more than 30 seals have died and the seal population has halved since 2000
I think we can rule out Orcas as the seals have all died the same way IE a cork-screw cut fron nose to tail
I have a picture of one I need to get some way to post it but I warn you its not a nice sight

Ok I got the image uped

**WARNING its not a pretty sight***

i3.photobucket.com...


[edit on 16-8-2010 by Sweevo]

Wow, not a pretty sight. I'm trying to picture a seal getting sucked into some machinery and being cut this way, but I keep seeing it struggle and curl up with fright or pain. If that was the case the cuts wouldn't spiral down the body, it would just look kind of chopped up overall.

reply to post by Sweevo


Yes, perhaps not killer whale if all seal carcasses are like this one. It would be useful to know where the image was sourced to ascertain whether it is current rather than (say) an historic one-off image which has already been explained.

If the image is current and the carcasses are all the same then the cause does appear to be mechanical. I would probably discount some theoretical caterpillar drive as being implausible and perhaps look to see what is fairly new on the scene. Perhaps one of the many new pilot wave power systems which are pretty big and have many moving parts would be a more credible culprit. See links.

Wave power solution number 1

Wave power solution number 2

Originally posted by Sweevo
I dont think so, but the fact remains that more than 30 seals have died and the seal population has halved since 2000
I think we can rule out Orcas as the seals have all died the same way IE a cork-screw cut fron nose to tail

You cannot rule out increased predation by killer whales as having a negative effect on the common seal population in Scotland, because studies say that this is a cause of the seal decline. There is no link between the death in odd circumstances of a handful of seals and the localised reduction in the population of common seals.

Report on BBC on localised seal decline

Sea Mammal Research Unit

Regards

Hi all! I just saw a photograph on Earthfiles.com, Linda Morton Howes site.
I was truely shocked. The horrible things that go on in this world. Crimes against animals should be thoroughly investigated and punished to the full extent of the law. I remember being in Northern Ireland in 2005 and marveling at the seals near the beach. I breaks my heart, and scares me to death to think that someone is living on this earth or off it causing this.