Death Rate Of Harp Seal Pups In Maritime Canada "Dramatic"; Whole Year-Classes May Disappear - AFP

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON — Harp seal pups off the coast of eastern Canada are dying at alarming rates due to a loss of winter ice cover, according to US scientists who questioned on Wednesday if the population will be able to recover.

The study by researchers at Duke University shows that seasonal ice cover in the harp seal breeding regions of the North Atlantic Ocean has declined about six percent per decade since 1979, when satellite data began.

The result has been entire generations of newly born seal pups dying due to their disappearing habitat, said the study published in the open access science journal PLoS ONE.

"The kind of mortality we're seeing in eastern Canada is dramatic," said co-author David Johnston, a research scientist at the Duke University Marine Lab. "Entire year-classes may be disappearing from the population in low ice years -- essentially all of the pups die," he said. "It calls into question the resilience of the population."

EDIT

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hsCyhCVoTEZAyNZE73rWRGFpSGNw

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I have been unable to watch any "nature" type shows/fims for the last few years.

All I can think of when I do is what I am seeing is doomed because of mankind's greed and stupidity and the sadness is unbearable.